Niacinamide may treat fibrotic eye disease and prevent vision loss

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A great new study that demonstrated nicotinamide (NAM) may also have anti-fibrotic effects in addition to its positive effects on maintaining favorable NAD/NADH ratio and redox balance. The mechanism of action of NAM was inhibition of the TGF-β pathway and overall reduction of inflammation. This anti-fibrotic effect of NAM may explain its well-known protective effects … Read more Niacinamide may treat fibrotic eye disease and prevent vision loss

The government knows stress causes “learned helplessness” / depression

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I have had discussions with numerous psychiatrists about the concept of “learned helplessness” (LH) and its relation to chronic stress. All of those doctors flatly denied that LH is a concept relevant to humans and argued that it is nothing more than a useful model of depression in animal studies, designed to evaluate animal exposure … Read more The government knows stress causes “learned helplessness” / depression

COVID-19/SARS may be due simply to serum PUFA and its peroxidation

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During the last podcast with Danny Roddy, Dr. Peat and I discussed the role of elevated free fatty acids (FFA) in the blood as facilitators of viral infection. I opined that the hydrophilic nature of PUFA circulating in the blood increases the permeability of cells and allows for easier viral entry inside the cell and … Read more COVID-19/SARS may be due simply to serum PUFA and its peroxidation

Aspirin – a new osteoporosis drug

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A study published almost a decade ago made the bold claim that aspirin may be a novel drug for osteoporosis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21600123 However, the study did not get much traction and was in fact mocked by medical professionals since mainstream medicine considered the known anti-estrogenic effects of aspirin to be incompatible with a bone-protective effect. The … Read more Aspirin – a new osteoporosis drug

Serotonin antagonists as treatment for COVID-19 / SARS

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A quick post to let my Twitter followers know that serotonin is implicated in viral diseases as well. I have posted in the past about the therapeutic effects of cyproheptadine and Benadryl on severe viral infections such as Ebola, HIV or even rabies. The serotonin antagonist below has already been observed to treat SARS caused … Read more Serotonin antagonists as treatment for COVID-19 / SARS

Serotonin may be a cause of hemorrhoids and tinnitus

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The two conditions mentioned in the title of the post are quite pervasive among Western societies and their cause is, of course, officially labelled as unknown. While medicine claims that no treatment exists for tinnitus the only approved curative treatment for hemorrhoids is surgery and like any other surgical treatment of varicose veins, the problems … Read more Serotonin may be a cause of hemorrhoids and tinnitus

Studies in animals often use stressful methods that produce invalid results

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Back in 2012, when I first started writing about the benefits of steroids such as pregnenolone, I often got emails quoting the study below as evidence that pregnenolone and related steroids amplify instead of mitigate the stress response (HPA axis). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17928160 “…We chose IP injection to assess neuroactive steroids effects at the central level because … Read more Studies in animals often use stressful methods that produce invalid results

Pregnenolone safe and effective in big human trial for back pain

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About 2 years ago I posted about a study that suggested pregnenolone may relieve low-back pain in humans. At the time, a bigger human clinical trial was planned and the results of that trial were just released. Pregnenolone, slowly titrated to reach doses of 500mg/day, was found to be safe and effective for low-back pain … Read more Pregnenolone safe and effective in big human trial for back pain

Restoring metabolism prevents / reverses “permanent” nerve damage

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Yet another study demonstrating the crucial role cellular metabolism plays in pathological processes. While most of the posts on this blog deal with beneficial effects of improving OXPHOS on various chronic diseases, the study below demonstrates that the same may be true in acute pathologies such as traumatic injury, especially in tissues with high energy … Read more Restoring metabolism prevents / reverses “permanent” nerve damage

Restoring energy production in immune cells is therapeutic in cancer

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The title of the popular press article is kind of the reverse of mine – i.e. cancer cells evade treatment by blocking energy production in immune cells (T-cells). However, my title still holds since the actual study did show that restoring energy production in T-cells restores the effectiveness of immune-boosting therapies for cancer. Either way, … Read more Restoring energy production in immune cells is therapeutic in cancer