In the News
The Institute for Functional Medicine Names Terry Wahls, MD, as the 2018 Linus Pauling Award Recipient
VITAMIN K2 RDI PROGRAM SPREARHEADED BY NATTOPHARMA
New chromosome study can lead to personalized counseling of pregnant women
Study uncovers cause of pesticide exposure, Parkinson's link
Researchers identify gene that helps prevent brain disease
New Focus on Plant-Based Dieting Leads HealthLabs.com to Develop Vegan Test Panels
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE FOR THE UNDERSERVED (IM4US) AIMS FOR JUSTICE AND EQUITY IN HEALTHCARE POLICY AND PRACTICE AT EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Leading Autism Researchers Join Tesseract Medical Research's Scientific Advisory Board
The Institute for Functional Medicine Names Terry Wahls, MD, as the 2018 Linus Pauling Award Recipient
HOLLYWOOD, Fla., May 31, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) is proud to announce Terry Wahls, MD, as the 2018 recipient of the Linus Pauling Award. The Linus Pauling Award recognizes a visionary clinician or researcher who has made a significant contribution to the development of the Functional Medicine model or to the reach of Functional Medicine nationally or internationally. Dr. Wahls received this award for her work as a physician, researcher, teacher, and patient advocate. Her health journey led to the publication of her pioneering research in neurological disorders, and it serves as a beacon of inspiration to the Functional Medicine movement and community as a whole. The announcement was made today at IFM's 2018 Annual International Conference in Hollywood, FL.
Amy R. Mack, IFM's chief executive officer, says, "It is truly an honor to name Dr. Wahls as the 2018 Linus Pauling Award recipient. Her personal journey of healing is a testament to the impact of Functional Medicine on both the causes and treatment of autoimmune disease, specifically multiple sclerosis. Dr. Wahls brought this debate into academia by designing high quality, scientifically based research studies that test the validity of this approach, and she is training physicians to use the FM lens to view treatment approaches for chronic disease."
Dr. Wahls is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa, where she teaches the public and medical trainees and conducts clinical trials. She is also a patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. She restored her health using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for her brain and now pedals her bike to work each day.
"I am profoundly grateful to Functional Medicine, which has transformed me as a person, as a physician, and as a researcher," says Dr. Wahls. "Functional Medicine provides clinicians and researchers a better framework for addressing the root causes of chronic disease development. It is one of the best tools we have for converting the epidemic of chronic disease into an epidemic of health. I am deeply honored to receive the Linus Pauling Award."
Dr. Wahls has authored several books, including The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine and the paperback The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles. Dr. Wahls teaches the public and medical community about the healing power of nutrition.
About The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM): IFM is the global leader in Functional Medicine. The mission of IFM is to serve the highest expression of individual health through the widespread adoption of Functional Medicine. For more information about IFM, please visit IFM.org.
Functional Medicine is a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers patients and practitioners to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration to address the underlying causes of disease. The primary drivers of the chronic disease epidemic are the daily interactions among an individual's genetics, environment, and lifestyle choices. Functional Medicine addresses these underlying causes of disease and equips healthcare practitioners to help their patients manage this complex, interconnected web. For more information about Functional Medicine, please visit IFM.org.
SOURCE Institute for Functional Medicine
CONTACT: Tabitha Barth, PR and Community Coordinator, tabithabarth@ifm.org, 253.661.3013
VITAMIN K2 RDI PROGRAM SPREARHEADED BY NATTOPHARMA
K2 Leader joins with leading researchers to establish basis of a much-needed K2 RDI
Oslo, Norway and Edison, NJ (May 31, 2018) — Global cardiovascular and bone health has been negatively impacted by widespread Vitamin K2 deficiency. Yet there is no established RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) for Vitamin K2. To that end, as the leader in Vitamin K2, NattoPharma has enlisted its powerful research partners to start a program to establish a much-needed RDI for Vitamin K2.
The program will begin with a team of researchers at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, the group that has led the way discovering and validating the health benefits of Vitamin K2, guided by Dr. Leon Schurgers, Professor of biochemistry of vascular calcification at Cardiovascular Research Institute at Maastricht University (CARIM). NattoPharma has worked closely with the Maastricht University in documenting benefits of the company’s exclusive branded MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7, since 2004 – work that has been recognized with many peer-reviewed scientific papers and with recently awarded research grants.
“The RDI for vitamin K is established based on coagulation factors only, but research continues to emerge that vitamin K and vitamin K-dependent proteins have physiological roles beyond coagulation,” says Dr. Schurgers, noting that the AI (Adequate Intake) for vitamin K was established at 90 μg/d for women and 120 μg/d for men for the US and Canada, and in Europe it is 1 μg/Kg/d. This was based on median phylloquinone (vitamin K1) intakes estimated from national surveys back in 2001. Next to vitamin K1 our food also provides us with vitamin K2. “More recent research has confirmed different bioavailability / activity between K1 and K2, and additional biological functions of K2 due to different side chains. Further, all epidemiological and interventional studies showed that only K2 was cardio-protective or has a beneficial effect on the arteries. This has not been considered in the forming of dietary recommendations.”
Dr. Schurgers’ team will be joined by the International Science and Health Foundation (ISHF), a research consortium responsible for the educational portal VitaminK2.org. According to Dr. Katarzyna Maresz, ISHF president, VitaminK2.org was specifically created to educate consumers and practitioners about the proven benefits of Vitamin K2, recognizing the impact of widespread K2 deficiency.
“We have seen in comprehensive studies – in adults as well as children – that correcting Vitamin K2 deficiency can greatly improve bone health, and studies in adults have delivered unprecedented improvement in cardiovascular health,” she says. “Yet studies also show that 97% of the Western population remains deficient. Establishing an RDI is an important step in educating the public about their absolute dietary need, providing them much-needed direction.”
According to Dr. Maresz, one of the first hurdles to overcome establishing an RDI is to have a biomarker or clinical endpoint that reflects the consequences of inadequate K2 consumption.
“Scientific knowledge has changed a lot recently, yet there is still a lack of suitable biomarkers or clinical endpoints that can be used to determine Vitamin K2 requirements among adults,” she explains, offering that inactive Matrix Gla Protein (dpucMGP) or the ratio of inactive to inactive Osteocalcin (ucOC/cOC) could be used as markers of vitamin K status. “Given that some vitamin K deficiency or insufficiency has been seen in 97% of older subjects in a mixed population as reflected by their measures of dpucMGP, this could be a good starting marker. However, the ‘normal’ range should be established. Further, K1 influences these markers, too, and we have to consider the metabolic events such the inter-conversion of phylloquinone to MK-4.”
Both NattoPharma and the researchers recognize the scope of this undertaking, but also that it is time to begin.
“Convincing the government to recognize how essential specific nutrients are is an arduous process,” says Eric Anderson, senior vice president of global marketing and business development with NattoPharma. “We have been working with Maastricht University for almost two decades validating the health benefits of Vitamin K2, creating this category. Our work, in addition to others’, is building that body of evidence. Now it is time to lead the way ensuring that a global recommendation exists so we can ensure Vitamin K2 is adequately attained for the betterment of the world population – men and women, adults and children.”
To that end, through the Horizon 2020 grants awarded in which the CARIM is the beneficiary, in partnership with NattoPharma, the company will host PhD students (ESRs) to teach them about the food and supplement industry and foster a further understanding of the RDI values set by FDA/EFSA. These ESRs will utilize this knowledge as they conduct a comprehensive literature review elucidating the data for K2’s bone and cardiovascular benefits. This cogent argument will work towards the efforts of petitioning for RDIs.
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About NattoPharma and MenaQ7® NattoPharma ASA, based in Norway, is the world’s leader in vitamin K2 research and development. NattoPharma is the exclusive international supplier of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7, the best documented, vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7 (MK-7) with guaranteed actives and stability, clinical substantiation, and international patents granted and pending; and now the new MenaQ7® Full Spectrum, which delivers menaquinones 6, 7, and 9. The company has a multi-year research and development program to substantiate and discover the health benefits of Vitamin K2 for applications in the marketplace for functional food and dietary supplements. With a global presence, the company established its North American subsidiary, NattoPharma USA, Inc., in Edison, NJ, and NattoPharma R&D Ltd. in Cyprus. For more information, visit www.nattopharma.com or www.menaq7.com.
For more information, please contact: Kate Quackenbush, NattoPharma Communications Director; E-mail: kate.quackenbush@nattopharma.com
New chromosome study can lead to personalized counseling of pregnant women
Fetuses with a so-called new balanced chromosomal aberration have a higher risk of developing brain disorders such as autism and mental retardation than previously anticipated. The risk is 20 per cent for fetuses with these types of aberrations according to a new study from the University of Copenhagen.
These chromosomal aberrations are seen in the fetus in one out of 2,000 pregnant women. Until now, when such an aberration has been found, the medical doctors have told the pregnant woman that the fetus' risk of developing congenital malformations is 6-9 per cent.
'We have identified all the people who, as fetuses, were diagnosed with such a chromosomal aberration in Denmark, and we can see that they more often have developed a disease. The previous study, which found a risk of 6-9 per cent, mainly looked at congenital malformations and did not include neurocognitive diseases such as autism and mental retardation, which often emerge at a later stage. We have therefore been unaware of the extent of the total risk', says one of the authors of the study, Iben Bache, who is associate professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and medical doctor at the Department of Clinical Genetics at Rigshospitalet.
Chromosomal Material that Has been Exchanged
'We call these aberrations balanced chromosomal rearrangements, because all the genetic material is still there. There is neither a loss nor a gain of genetic material. The problem is that parts of the genetic material have been exchanged, and that might have caused disruption of an important gene', says Iben Bache.
The study is the largest systematic survey of these rare chromosomal aberrations in fetuses, and it also evaluates the methods that can be used for examining them. These chromosomal abnormalities are diagnosed through chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis by classical chromosomal analysis, where the genetic material is examined in a microscope. This method has been used for the last 40 years, and it is still the method used in most pregnancies globally.
However, in Danish hospitals the method is increasingly being replaced with another method, chromosomal microarray, which exclusively tests for loss and gain of the genetic material. Chromosomal microarray therefore cannot discover the rare balanced aberrations studied here. In contrast, the study reveals that modern genome sequencing in most cases will be able not only to detect these balanced chromosomal aberrations but also show whether genes have been damaged.
The study is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Copenhagen doing basic research, all clinical genetic departments in Denmark and the Department of Epidemiological Research at Statens Serum Institute. The researchers carefully examined the Danish health records to find everyone born with a de novo balanced chromosomal aberration since 1975. Each time they found a person with the aberration, they established a control group of five individuals with normal chromosomes, who had been born more or less at the same time by a mother of the same age.
The researchers then visited the majority of the persons to do a health examination and collect blood samples for modern genetic analyses. By comparing the health data of the group with the chromosomal aberrations and the control group, the researchers found two-three times higher risk of developing a neurocognitive disorder in the group with the chromosomal aberrations.
In addition, the researchers found that the new whole genome sequencing techniques are much better than any other techniques at assessing the health effect of a balanced chromosomal aberration. This is the conclusion after almost identical assessments made by two independent research groups, including a group from the Harvard Medical School.
'We have not known which analyses to use to discriminate the fetuses that will be healthy from those that will eventually develop disorders. Our study shows that by using the new sequencing technologies we can in fact discriminate in a number of cases. This may greatly affect the diagnosing and counselling of pregnant women carrying fetuses with this specific type of chromosomal aberration in the future', says Iben Bache.
Story Source: Materials provided by University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
Study uncovers cause of pesticide exposure, Parkinson's link
A new University of Guelph study has discovered why exposure to pesticides increases some people's risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Previous studies have found an association between two commonly used agrochemicals (paraquat and maneb) and Parkinson's disease.
Now U of G professor Scott Ryan has determined that low-level exposure to the pesticides disrupts cells in a way that mimics the effects of mutations known to cause Parkinson's disease.
Adding the effects of the chemicals to a predisposition for Parkinson's disease drastically increases the risk of disease onset, said Ryan.
"People exposed to these chemicals are at about a 250-percent higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease than the rest of the population," said Ryan, a professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
"We wanted to investigate what is happening in this susceptible population that results in some people developing the disease."
Used on a variety of Canadian crops, paraquat is used on crops as they grow and maneb prevents post-harvest spoiling.
Published in the journal Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, this study used stem cells from people with Parkinson's disease that had a mutation in a gene called synuclein that is highly associated with increased risk of Parkinson's Disease, as well as normal embryonic stem cells in which, the risk associated mutation was introduced by gene editing.
"Until now, the link between pesticides and Parkinson's disease was based primarily on animal studies as well as epidemiological research that demonstrated an increased risk among farmers and others exposed to agricultural chemicals," said Ryan. "We are one of the first to investigate what is happening inside human cells."
From the two types of stem cells, Ryan and his team made dopamine-producing neurons -- the specific neurons affected in Parkinson's disease -- and exposed them to the two agrochemicals.
In exposing cells to agrochemicals, energy-producing mitochondria were prevented from moving to where they were needed inside the cell, depleting the neurons of energy.
Neurons from the Parkinson's patients and those in which the genetic risk factor was introduced were impaired at doses below the EPA reported lowest observed effect level. Higher doses are needed to impair function in normal neurons.
"People with a predisposition for Parkinson's disease are more affected by these low level exposures to agrochemicals and therefore more likely to develop the disease," said Ryan. "This is one of the reasons why some people living near agricultural areas are at a higher risk."
He said the findings indicate that we need to reassess current acceptable levels for these two agrochemicals.
"This study shows that everyone is not equal, and these safety standards need to be updated in order to protect those who are more susceptible and may not even know it."
Story Source: Materials provided by University of Guelph.
Researchers identify gene that helps prevent brain disease
Scientists know that faulty proteins can cause harmful deposits or "aggregates" in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Although the causes of these protein deposits remain a mystery, it is known that abnormal aggregates can result when cells fail to transmit proper genetic information to proteins. University of California San Diego Professor Susan Ackerman and her colleagues first highlighted this cause of brain disease more than 10 years ago. Now, probing deeper into this research, she and colleagues have identified a gene, Ankrd16, that prevents the protein aggregates they originally observed.
Usually, the information transfer from gene to protein is carefully controlled -- biologically "proofread" and corrected -- to avoid the production of improper proteins. As part of their recent investigations, published May 16 in the journal Nature, Ackerman, Paul Schimmel (Scripps Research Institute) My-Nuong Vo (Scripps Research Institute) and Markus Terrey (UC San Diego) identified that Ankrd16 rescued specific neurons -- called Purkinje cells -- that die when proofreading fails. Without normal levels of Ankrd16, these nerve cells, located in the cerebellum, incorrectly activate the amino acid serine, which is then improperly incorporated into proteins and causes protein aggregation.
"Simplified, you may think of Ankrd16 as acting like a sponge or a 'failsafe' that captures incorrectly activated serine and prevents this amino acid from being improperly incorporated into proteins, which is particularly helpful when the ability of nerve cells to proofread and correct mistakes declines," said Ackerman, the Stephen W. Kuffler Chair in Biology, who also holds positions in the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The levels of Ankrd16 are normally low in Purkinje cells, making these neurons vulnerable to proofreading defects. Elevating the level of Ankrd16 protects these cells from dying, while removing Ankrd16 from other neurons in mice with a proofreading deficiency caused widespread buildup of abnormal proteins and ultimately neuronal death.
The researchers describe Ankrd16 as ." ..a new layer of the machinery essential for preventing severe pathologies that arise from defects in proofreading."
The researchers note that only a few modifier genes of disease mutations such as Ankrd16 have been identified and a modifier-based mechanism for understanding the underlying pathology of neurodegenerative diseases may be a promising route to understand disease development.
Story Source:
Materials provided by University of California - San Diego.
New Focus on Plant-Based Dieting Leads HealthLabs.com to Develop Vegan Test Panels
Online lab testing leader, HealthLabs.com, creates multiple first-of-their-kind testing panels, designed to monitor nutrient levels, and look for animal-derived product allergies
HOUSTON, May 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLabs.com will now be the first ever online lab testing service to offer comprehensive testing packages that are tailored toward vegans and those considering the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
There will be two different veins of testing: One for those who are vegan and one for those who are not vegan.
The Vegan Nutritional Maintenance Panel is designed for those who are already vegan and want to ensure that they have a well-balanced diet. This panel contains 11 tests for possible nutrient deficiencies that vegans may encounter if their plant-based diet is off-balance.
This test was designed with vegans in mind and will look for things that the bloodstream may be more vulnerable to, due to a plant-based diet, such as a B-12 deficiency or high levels of folic acid.
"To put it plainly, we've noticed the care that vegans put into maintaining a nutrient-rich diet, this is just the best way that we could think to facilitate that," said Fiyyaz Pirani, founder, and CEO of HealthLabs.com.
The "Should You be Vegan" testing panels are designed for those considering veganism, who want to see if they're experiencing unwanted side effects from a meat and dairy diet. This test will look for allergies that may be brought on by animal-derived food.
Many experience pain, sluggishness, and discomfort after consuming meat or dairy. The "Should You Be Vegan" test is meant to help non-vegans see the benefit in making changes to their lifestyle and habits, which could ultimately improve their mental and physical health.
"This is an untapped market; no one has created a test panel intended to help people determine if veganism is the right choice for them. There's been a lot of buzz around a regulated diet that is absent of animal-derived products, and a lot of people have questions. It is our hope that this blood test can help answer some of those questions," said Pirani.
The comprehensive "Should You Be Vegan" test panel will test for 38 different food allergies, looking for lactose intolerance, egg allergies, meat allergies, and more. The Standard and Basic "Should You Be Vegan" test panels will be less extensive versions of the test and will look for the more common animal-derived food allergies.
Many have recently become drawn to a plant-based diet, due to its numerous health benefits, such as lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Veganism is also one of the best ways to fight factory farming, animal cruelty, and reduce an environmental impact.
HealthLabs.com is excited to expand its resources and empower the vegan community.
All tests are available online at www.HealthLabs.com or by phone at 1-800-579-3914 and our health specialists are available to answer your questions 24 hours a day.
Testing is easy and results are received within a couple of days.
About HealthLabs.com:
HealthLabs.com offers fast, private, and affordable lab testing that can be scheduled and ordered online. Founded in 2010, HealthLabs.com has over 4,500 CLIA-certified U.S. labs and a comprehensive, user-friendly website.
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE FOR THE UNDERSERVED (IM4US) AIMS FOR JUSTICE AND EQUITY IN HEALTHCARE POLICY AND PRACTICE AT EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
San Francisco, CA – As the passing of the GOP tax bill aims for the most sweeping overhaul of the US tax system in more than 30 years, the bill also aims to affect healthcare policy in a significant way. The impact of the bill could mean the loss health insurance for about 13 million people in the next decade or an increase in premiums of up to 10 percent. Many of those affected represent the most vulnerable of populations – the underserved. In addition, the opioid epidemic is a major health threat to the underserved, along with millions of Americans. Now more than ever, Integrative Medicine and nonpharmacological approaches are needed to ensure the health and well-being of those affected by these healthcare issues. A solution that is strongly endorsed by the Joint Commission, as well as many other organizations, including Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US).
IM4US fundamentally believes that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. The organization advocates to preserve those rights and promote the benefits of Integrative Medicine and the impact it can have on not only improving health outcomes for chronic diseases, but also in addressing the opioid epidemic.
This summer, IM4US will head to Washington, DC for its eighth annual conference with the goal of educating and mobilizing its membership to take action on this belief. Hence, this year’s conference will focus on ensuring greater justice and equity in healthcare policy and practice for the underserved. Conference participants will learn from, as well as interact and make connections with, organizations, policymakers, and legislators working to attain health equity. Participants will also have the opportunity to gain the tools needed to take action not only nationally, but in their own local communities.
Integrative health and wellness, when incorporated in a primary care framework, has the ability to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. This is even more pronounced in underserved settings where these approaches can also be effective in reducing health disparities.
“The poor struggle to meet their basic needs such as access to affordable healthy food, a safe place to live, opportunities for work and an environment that is free of pollutants. Unfortunately, the underserved can suffer from oppression often due to due to their race, ethnicity, sexual identity, religion, gender, etc. We know that living with oppression leads to more stress and poorer health outcomes including chronic medical conditions. An integrative approach to health care can help reduce these health disparities. It is our job as an organization not only to advocate for affordable health care for all but also advocate for access to quality and equitable healthcare for all,” says Priscilla Abercrombie, RN, NP, PhD and President of the Board, IM4US.
“As our nation faces a crisis of mounting chronic diseases, integrative approaches are well suited to bring us back to health. This is especially true in the underserved setting where many patients and communities are excluded from the current health care system and often can’t access care. We must empower patients to take their health into their own hands with a focus on prevention, lifestyle changes, nutrition, mind-body interventions, and more,” says Sharad Kohli, MD, Secretary of the Board, IM4US and Cochair, 2018 Conference Planning Committee.
The 2018 IM4US Conference will be held at George Washington University in Washington, DC. The Samueli Foundation is participating as Lead Sponsor and the AIM Health Institute--a DC based organization whose mission is to bring the world of integrative medicine to all regardless of their ability to pay--will be co-sponsoring the conference.
“I’m excited that George Washington University is the host site for the IM4US 2018 annual conference. The annual conference is the best event to learn practical ways of making all people healthier. The IM4US conferences always refuel my personal commitment to the underserved community and continues to teach me innovative ways of providing holistic care to every patient I see regardless of their ability to pay, or where they live,“ Mikhail Kogan, MD, Medical Director at the George Washington Center for Integrative Medicine and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the university, and Co-chair of the 2018 IM4US Conference Planning Committee. Those interested in attending the IM4US 8th Annual Conference can learn more here. Conference registration is now open. For information about conference sponsorship opportunities, click here or email info@im4us.org.
Leading Autism Researchers Join Tesseract Medical Research's Scientific Advisory Board
Leading autism researchers Richard E. Frye, MD, PhD, MS, FAAN, FAAP and John Slattery, BA, have joined the Scientific Advisory Board of Tesseract Medical Research (TMR), William West, President of the life sciences company, announced. Their addition bolsters TMR's commitment to advancing safe and effective biomedical interventions for managing the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder utilizing TMR's advanced nutrient delivery technology. The company launched an emerging autism portfolio last year with its first product, AuRx®, a medical food that optimizes delivery of butyric acid (butyrate) to the gastrointestinal microbiome. This short-chain fatty acid is often deficient in autistic patients and supplementation shows promise in improving symptoms and enhancing quality of life. AuRx® is the only ASD medical food that provides a critical nutrient needed by an autistic child that is not available from the normal diet when the child has an imbalance in the gut microbiota.
"We are truly fortunate to have Dr. Frye and Mr. Slattery on our team," stated West. "Their participation validates that patient outcomes experienced thus far from our products represent an exciting new frontier. It also affirms our commitment to provide parents and medical providers with the ongoing research and clinical investigation needed to assure this supportive adjunctive therapy becomes a ubiquitous element of treatment programs throughout the world of autism."
Child and behavioral neurologist Richard E. Frye, MD, PhD, FAAN, FAAP, received his doctoral degrees in medicine and physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University in 1998. He has co-authored more than 230 publications in peer reviewed scientific journals and professional media and has spearheaded over 40 major clinical research studies.
Dr. Frye is recognized as a pioneer in identifying and exploring many of the underlying conditions in autistic patients that, with treatment, can substantially improve quality of life. His work centers on evidence-based science to better understand how the biomarkers of the dysfunctional pathways in autism can be paired with effective treatments. Most noteworthy has been his research in mitochondrial disorders and abnormalities in the microbiome, and more specifically, on the impacts of folate and vitamin B12, plus other compounds.
"Butyrate is pretty amazing in what it does to the cells," explained Dr. Frye. "It seems to act like a fuel as it's supposed to, but also seems to rescue cells under stress. It appears to have a positive impact on many of the important genes we've found."
John Slattery, BA, is a longtime collaborator with Dr. Frye, having worked together doing breakthrough research at Arkansas Children's Hospital. He is currently Director of Research and Innovation for Aces Health in Atlanta, and Founder of Aces Labs. John has also investigated neural correlates of attention networks after traumatic brain injury or stroke. He has since transitioned to clinical research on neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). His work in helping to create a more sophisticated digital health ecosystem, incorporating disparate, health-centric data into a unified and robust cloud-based platform drove new insights into complex disease processes, while also improving the speed and collection of data in clinical trials. The early results of this new paradigm have profound implications for spectrum disorders like autism, but for also diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and other challenging-to-manage chronic diseases.
"Tesseract has specifically developed an intervention that delivers butyrate into the microbiome," stated Mr. Slattery. "Indigestible fiber is converted by bacteria into three major short-chain fatty acids—acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. Disruptions in this gut ecosystem cause disruptions in production and interconnected pathways. Inadequate butyrate production may cause too much propionic acid in the body, which animal models have shown may have detrimental effects and alter behavior, learning, and memory, and promotes physiological and behavioral features consistent with an autism-like condition. By providing more butyrate to the parts of the intestines where it is needed, AuRx® can potentially have some significant effects on these biochemical and molecular feedback loops between the microbiome, their end products, the gut and the brain. Butyrate could potentially alter the metabolic systems, improve oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, among other physiological benefits."