Contributing Factors

Research published in September 2023, linked high serotonin outside brain cells to dementia. The study suggested that the prevention of this problem could be as simple as eating extra salt (real sea salt, not the refined, processed kind). 

Prolonged exposure to estrogen was linked to Alzheimer's severity in a study published in October, 2021. Nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer's patients are women. Long exposure to estrogen can lead to cancer. Avoiding estrogen replacement therapy and minimizing exposure to estrogen in products like plastic containers and food packaging, skin and hair care products, and makeup is helpful.

Poor mitochondrial function resulting in poor energy production is a definite component. The aging process itself appears to be a root cause. Young people typically don't get Alzheimer's. After you hit the age of 65, the risk of developing Alzheimer's doubles every 5 years. Your risk reaches nearly one out of three by the time you're 85.  

Gum disease is linked. Nearly half of adults above the age of 30 have gum disease and 70% of those age 65 and older have periodontal disease. The key bacteria  involved is Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) which causes chronic periodontitis. Research indicates that this bacteria can make its way to the brain and cause neuroinflammation contributing to Alzheimer's. 

How to Lower Risk

Opitmal mitochondrial function depends on your diet. Dr. Mercola suggests ditching all processed foods, fast foods, and most restaurant foods as they are all loaded with or cooked in seed oils—linoleic acid (LA) is a huge problem for health. Focus on organic, whole and minimally processed foods. 

For reducing gum disease, knowledgeable dentists suggest avoiding mouthwash and other similar dental products that are disinfectants or antibacterial as they kill off the good (commensal) bacteria. Other helpful things that can be done include avoiding processed food, genetically engineered (GMO) food, emulsifiers in food, plastic drinking containers, and avoiding mouth breathing/dry mouth. Of course, the sugar nutrients we talk about in our class are essential for supporting the immune system. You can learn more about them in my book, There's An Elephant in the Room—Exposing Hidden Truths in the Science of Health. 

Water Flossing

​The first time I used my waterpik I was amazed. I could not believe the amount of food particles still in my teeth after my double brushing. And my teeth felt sparkling clean like they do just after visiting the dentist. Studies show that water flossers remove 29% more plaque than floss. Water flossers are also more gentle for people with gum sensitivity. In addition, people with less dexterity tend to find water flossers easier to use than most other dental cleaners.

Like regular flossing, water flossing removes food stuck between your teeth and the bacteria lingering there before it hardens into plaque. Your toothbrush can't get into those small spaces. Water flossing can also reduce gum disease and bleeding. I love mine and even take it with me on trips. For all of you who resist string flossing—find freedom from gum disease worries and dental visit guilt. Water flossing massages your gums and feels great as it leaves your mouth clean and fresh. I highly recommend it. 

Symptoms

Usually, shingles will last 2-6 weeks. Symptoms can include headache and fever, chills, upset stomach, itching/tingling/burning on affected skin, shooting pain like an electric shock, redness and rash (commonly seen on one side of the torso), and even changes in eyesight.

As the shingles virus travels along specific nerves, the rash usually appears in a band on only one side of the body. The band corresponds to the spot where the nerve fires off signals. It normally doesn't spread over the entire body, but typically remains localized.

While symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable, they are not normally life-threatening for healthy adults. Adults with a compromised immune system are more at risk for complications caused by shingles and could end up requiring hospitalization.

Causes

As mentioned earlier, shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus, VZV. After you have chickenpox, the virus goes dormant within the nerves of the body. If the virus becomes activated, typically later in life, there is a potential for shingles to develop. If you were born before 1980, it is very likely that you had chickenpox, even if you don't remember (it was a very common childhood disease). In many people, the virus will stay dormant and never develop into shingles. Grown-up exposure to kids with chickenpox keeps the immune system on top of the virus by repeated exposure as we age. Unfortunately, the chickenpox vaccine has virtually eliminated the disease resulting in a huge increase in the number of shingles cases. 

The virus can reactivate if an individual's immune system is weakened, compromised by immunosuppressants, or if under high levels of stress. Natural aging also increases the risk as the body's immune system becomes immunosenescent (less vibrant and active—more docile) with aging and especially without exposure to children with chicken pox. 

Developing shingles is influenced primarily by age (people over 50), overall health status, sex (women are more at risk than men), and race (Caucasions are 30% more likely to get the disease than other races). 

A study published in the Journal of Cutaneous Immunology and Allergy concluded that persistent shingles following COVID jabs was associated with the COVID spike protein. The researchers theorized that the COVID jab induced persistent shingles reactivation by down-regulating and perturbing the immune system. So, it turns out that COVID jabs increase the risk of reactivating shingles, if you've had it before or have risk factors for it. 

Diagnosis and Complications 

Shingles is usually diagnosed easily because of the accompanying rash along the path of the affected nerves. Often, nerve pain precedes the rash by several days. If a rash is absent after three days of suspicious nerve pain, then a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test can be done to determine if it is really shingles.

Posttherapeutic neualgia (PHN) is the most common complaint and involves the persistent burning or shooting sensation in the affected nerve and skin. This pain can last a long time before disappearing (approximately 10-18% of people experience this). For those over 60 years of age, over 60% have this pain last much longer. 

Eye and ear complications arise in 20% of cases and the cornea and retina can be painfully affected, leading to vision impairment and sensitivity to light, eye pain, redness, drainage, and even blindness.  

Treatment

There is no cure for shingles, but early use of antiviral medications can lessen or prevent nerve pain (PHN). Maintaining a strong immune system is vital. Research indicates that stressful life events and higher rates of depression elevate the risk of shingles. Reducing emotional and physical stress is imperative. A pilot study showed that meditation improved both pain and physical functioning of those suffering with shingles. Of course, the medical system recommends a vaccine (Shingrix) to fight this disease caused by the chickenpox vaccine (Varivax and ProQuad). It's a win-win financially for them to treat drug side effects with more drugs, so why not vaccines? But always remember that it's a personal choice and you should research the effectiveness, side effects, and harm caused by this vaccine to your native immune system. There is always a cost and sometimes it is severe. Remember that when they say a vaccine is 95% effective, it does not mean what you think. They claimed the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was 95% effective. But that 95% effectiveness actually dropped to zero when the public learned that the vaccine did not stop transmission or infection at all (after they sold billions of dollars' of it). In reality,the jab turned out to have negative effectiveness—the vaccinated were more likely to get COVID than the unvaccinated!

A treatment approach from 1949 published by Dr. Fred R. Klenner showed impressive positive effects of using ascorbic acid against a number of diseases. One of the diseases discussed was the herpes zoster virus (shingles). Dr. Klenner used large doses of ascorbic acid to treat the pain and related how rapidly the pain disappeared in a number of cases. For shingles he used 2000-3000 mg of vitamin C given every 12 hours. This was supplemented by 3000 mg in fruit juice by mouth every 2 hours. Eight cases of adults were treated and seven experienced cessation of pain within 2 hours of the first vitamin C injection and remained so without the use of any other medication.

Sleep and Cortisol Levels

While cortisol is important in regulating functions within the body, increasing metabolism, and controlling blood pressure, it also serves as the body's internal alarm clock. It helps you to know when it is time to wake up and calm down for sleep. Cortisol typically peaks in the morning between 6–8 a.m. and declines throughout the day. This 24-hour cycle is called diurnal variation and is part of the body's natural circadian rhythm. Cortisol levels are usually lowest around midnight. 

However, when individuals suffer from chronic stress and anxiety during the day, cortisol levels have already spiked before bedtime. The midnight to dawn cycle gets moved back in time and people begin waking up at 3 a.m. This is due to the body starting a new production cycle of cortisol in preparation for waking you up in the morning. Unfortunately, this is being added on top of your already increased levels of cortisol from the day before. This altered cycle leads to tiredness in the afternoon and a desire to sleep earlier in the day. Pushing through that tiredness or giving in to it, doesn't really help the body reset to the original, natural cycle. 

Reseting Sleep Patterns

Finding ways to reduce emotional and physical stress are vital to creating a healthy sleeping environment. Ten-minute meditation or relaxation sessions each day before bedtime work for many people. A light 20- or 30-minute walk in the morning and early evening also helps. Any activity like yoga, knitting, reading, listening to calm music, and sitting quietly can help regulate the body's cortisol levels in the direction towards sleep. Avoiding TV, cell phones, and blue screen technology a few hours before bedtime can definitely reduce distractions. Finding ways to unplug from the demands of the world can do wonders. 

The Molecular Switch

Dr. Jaehyuk Choi, associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and the study’s senior author, explained that AHR can be compared to “a molecular switch” that determines the fate of immune cells. By developing therapeutics that target AHR in rogue T-cells, researchers believe they may be able to reverse lupus.
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Dr. Choi and Dr. Deepak Rao, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, expressed their surprise at discovering that AHR could be vital in reversing autoimmunity, given that the receptor had no known connection to it. Dr. Rao, who is also a senior author of the study, added that it was initially surprising to find that a T-cell involved in wound healing would be the opposite of an autoimmune T-cell. “Those two T-cell populations with those two functions are not obviously connected or related,” he said. He added that he could not have predicted that when wound-healing T-cells increased, autoimmune T-cells would decrease, and vice versa.

T-Cells

Follicular and peripheral T helper cells have long been known to play a major role in driving lupus, Dr. Rao explained in the The Epoch Times article. In lupus, the patient’s body produces autoantibodies, antibodies that attack self-tissues. B-cells generate these autoantibodies under the control of rogue autoimmune T-cells. Therefore, by converting these autoimmune T-cells into cells involved in wound healing, the production of autoantibodies is reduced, thereby decreasing autoimmunity.
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“It is almost like a cell streamline, where if you can block one part, then the downstream is blocked,” Dr. Choi explained. He highlighted the study’s findings demonstrating that adding AHR to rogue T-cells in cell culture transforms them into wound-healing cells. These reprogrammed cells can no longer help B-cells make autoantibodies.

Dr. Rao added that these rogue T-cells are also present in other autoimmune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis, raising the possibility that other drug targets for these cells may apply to such conditions.

Treatment Without Immune System Suppression

Current lupus treatments elicit broad immunosuppressive effects by reducing B- and T-cell activity. However, when rogue T-cells are targeted explicitly with AHR, patients can experience Lupus symptoms reversal without compromising their overall immunity. Additionally, the increase in cells involved in wound and barrier repair helps alleviate gastrointestinal problems. The only drawback is that since AHR is present in all cells, broad administration of AHR-targeted treatments could cause systemic adverse effects, so further study is merited. But the good news is that the incorporation of sugar nutrients that coat these proteins and cell receptors can make incredible differences in cellular performance and chemical imbalances. So there is real hope. For more information, see my book. 

Human Versus Animal Version of Sialic Acid

​Red meat affects humans but does not cause cancer in carnivores. Therefore, there must be some other mechanism that targets humans specifically. Researchers studying a particular glycan (the sugar called sialic acid that we teach about in our class) seem to have stumbled upon the answer. ​The researchers focused their efforts on a non-human form of sialic acid (Neu5Gc), which is present in significant quantities in red meat but not in poultry or fish (except caviar). The human version of this sialic acid sugar is Neu5Ac or N-acetylneuraminic acid. Researchers were able to demonstrate that while the non-human glycan is not produced by humans, it does show up on human epithelial cell surface sugar structures (glycoproteins). Epithelial cells line our throat and intestinal tract. It is especially common in cancerous tissue (see Varki A (2010) Colloquium paper: Uniquely human evolution of sialic acid genetics and biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(Suppl 2):8929-8946.)

Diet Holds the Key

The only way this non-human sialic acid could be embedded on human glycoproteins (sugar antennas) is through diet. Red meat contains this non-human version of the sialic acid sugar. If we eat a lot of red meat, the glycoproteins on our cells can have this non-human form of sialic acid incorporated within them because of our diet. The non-human sialic acid is what causes inflammation and is linked to cancer. The human form of sialic acid does not cause this type of problem. It is anti-inflammatory and supports the immune system.

Since epithelial (surface) cells are replaced every few days, eating red meat sparingly gives the body a chance to replace this non-human form of sialic acid accumulated from a diet high in red meat with the human form. This gives the body a chance to rest from inflammation and disease creation. A constant diet of red meat gives the body no time to heal.

Xeno-autoantigen

Metabolic incorporation (glycosylation) of dietary Neu5Gc into human tissue “makes this glycan the first example of a xeno-autoantigen which can react with circulating anti-Neu5Gc antibodies (xeno-antibodies). The resulting antigen-antibody interaction is hypothesized to promote chronic inflammation or ‘xenosialitis’, which would contribute to carcinogenesis or to other diseases exacerbated by chronic inflammation…it appears that glycosidically bound Neu5Gc is the dietary source that is bioavailable for tissue incorporation and not the free monosaccharide.” (Samraj, Annie, et al. 2014. A Red Meat-derived Glycan Promotes Inflammation and Cancer Progression. PNAS January 13, 2015 Vol 112, no. 2)

​This research explains why eating too much red meat is linked to cancer. Many healthy diets either eliminate red meat or allow it only sparingly. The wisdom of this advice has just been verified and validated by the field of glycobiology—the science that studies sugar!

1. Sugar is Only Used for Energy Production—False

​Doctors memorize the Krebs Cycle (Citric Acid Cycle) to learn how the body creates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules. ATP provides 95% of the energy necessary to keep the cell machinery operating. Fifty percent of the total volume inside the cell consists of mitochondrial power plants dedicated to producing energy. Glucose is combined with oxygen and burned in a metabolic process that creates the high-energy phosphate molecules. However, the science of glycobiology represents a new paradigm. The eight glycobiology sugars are not fuel sugars. They are structural sugars—monosaccharide building blocks that are constructed in the Golgi apparatus (GA) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) factories. They are attached to proteins that are created by combining amino acids in the ribosomes (R) and lipids made by combining fatty acids in the ER. 

2. Glucose is the Only Important Sugar—False
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As a result of the first false paradigm, scientists regarded glucose as the only vital sugar for the body. They once believed that all sugar was changed into glucose in the body, and from glucose, any sugar required by the body was manufactured in the liver. The body indeed has a backup system where it can change glucose into fucose or any other needed sugar. But it can take up to 37 enzymatic reactions, and it is extremely energy-intensive. The body does not prefer using the backup system unless it has to. The primary pathway becomes depleted if we are not eating enough whole, plant-based food or if our food is nutritionally deficient. The backup system kicks in to keep us alive. It was French scientists in 1998 who had volunteers ingest mannose and galactose sugar molecules with a radioactive isotope attached so they could track them throughout the body. They discovered that these sugars were never changed into glucose. In fact, they discovered cell receptors in the gut that absorbed these other sugars intact! After digestion, they were transferred to the cells in the body. They rightly concluded that these sugars represented a new classification of nutrition as important as vitamins and minerals. We were designed to eat them in our diet.

Later, other scientists discovered a mannose transport mechanism in the gut. In addition, scientists discovered that bacteria in the gut would cleave fucose from the food we eat and make it available to the bloodstream. Clearly, eating food containing these sugar nutrients is vital for human health, or why would we have these mechanisms to extract them in our digestive system? The gut represents 70% of our immune system. This is really an astounding fact. But it makes sense when you consider that food arrives from outside the body and can contain foreign microbes and germs. The digestive tract is the first line of defense for our bodies to protect the inside of our bodies. Peyer's patches (see picture below) are distributed along the gut and house the soldiers in our defensive army. So, the immune system takes great care and has an entire defensive system lining our gut to identify, resist, and destroy foreign elements. Mannose is a sugar that is like the gas in the gas tank of macrophages. These immune system warrior cells engulf (phagocytize) bacteria, viral components, and any other toxic substance and debris in their effort to protect us from harm invading us from the outside world. Clearly, metabolic processes exist for all of these critical sugar nutrients, so cellular communication and immune system activity can proceed. 
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3. Other Sugars Can't Be Broken Down, So They Are Useless—False
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Early glycobiologists like Dr. Hudson Freeze and Dr. Ronald Schnaar were adamant that, despite what the French scientists had discovered, supplementing these glycobiology sugars was useless. They believed that the beta bonds that held these sugars together were impossible to break. And there were no enzymes in the stomach that were capable of breaking them down into monosaccharides (simple sugars). They even went on ABC's TV show 20/20 in June of 2007 to disparage anyone (including a nutritional company selling a sugar nutrient supplement) that it was all bogus. This got a lot of damaging national attention for nutritional glycobiology.

Apparently, they were unaware of a scientific study completed in January 2007 (6 months prior to their interview) by the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, CA. The study proved that long-chain polysaccharides were broken down and absorbed within the body. While it was true that no enzymes existed in the stomach that could break these beta bonds, they were actually broken down by bacteria in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Many bacteria have enzymes called beta-glycosidases that break beta bonds. It wasn't expensive urine as the reputable doctors claimed! Of course, there was no retraction published by ABC, and the doctors never admitted they got it wrong. But their old science wasn't the last word on the new science for anyone who was still listening!

4. We Are A Victim to Our Genes—False 

The Human Genome Project was a scientific effort to map out our genetic code. It took over a decade (1990 to 2003) to complete. Initially, scientists believed they would find about 120,000 genes. They thought it would take that many to create something as complex as the human body. They already knew that the lowly fruit fly had 20,000 genes. Imagine their surprise when they discovered humans had only a mere 20,500 genes. That was less than a Heinz tomato (31,760 genes)! Clearly, something was not computing. Eventually, they realized that something must be modifying the proteins making up the genes. Glycosylation turned out to be the answer. It is the most common posttranslational modification that proteins undergo. As we mentioned before, 70% of all proteins are glycoproteins. The addition of the 8 sugars in various patterns had to be the reason. Like a flag pole made up of protein, the flag made of sugars was giving a distinct message to the body and represented a unique meaning (a particular country). Scientists didn't know anything about these sugars. All of a sudden, there was an urgent scientific push to learn about the science of glycobiology. Eventually, the science of epigenetics evolved, and researchers learned that sugar was what gave meaning to protein. Genetics wasn't the whole story. It wasn't even the most important story. The real story was above the genes and how the trillions of combinations of these 8 sugars could communicate different messages even on the same protein string. This communication system was how the immune system knew where and how to respond to problems within the body. These sugar patterns represented the language of life!

5. Protein is the Language of the Immune System—False

The immune system is a tremendously complex system within the body. There are always defensive immune cells on patrol, looking for problems to report. Defensive white blood cells fight battles against invaders they identify. This defensive army must determine who is a friend and who is a foe. The immune system also coordinates response efforts through a cascading range of alertness. When the battle is won, the immune system winds down the inflammatory response, initiates cell repair, and returns things to normal. The system is always on quiet alert, running war games in preparation for the real thing. Like a general fighting a war, the immune system must be able to communicate with its troops. The old belief was that protein served as the communication signaling molecules at the cell level. But the 20 amino acids that constitute protein do not provide enough different chemically unique combinations to support a vocabulary large enough to account for immune system communication requirements. Amino acids can only link end-to-end like train cars in a linear manner. The 20 train cars linking in a line couldn't be arranged uniquely in enough ways to represent the messages communicated by the immune system.

Scientists had never investigated sugar because there were only 8 utilized biologically on cell receptors. But when they studied them more thoroughly, they discovered that these simple sugars were not that simple after all. They had a level of complexity that blew scientists away. These single sugars in solutions like water (the body is 60% water) formed 3-dimensional ring structures rather than straight lines. One was a pentagon (5 carbons), six were hexagons (6 carbons), and one was a nonagon (9 carbons). They could link at each carbon site on the atom, and they could branch out in bush-like chains containing hundreds and thousands of sugars. These structures had a potential of up to 1 quadrillion possible unique patterns in this sugar-coded alphabet! This is 100,000 billion! And if you counted a billion seconds (one number/second), it would take 31.7 years! This sugar-based communication system is what allows our immune system to communicate the information we know our immune system does on a daily basis. Glycans govern nearly all biological functions in our body.

What happens when sugars are not in their correct place? What does miscommunication look like for the immune system? For a good discussion of how autoimmune or degenerative diseases arise from an over-modulated or under-modulated immune system, see my book (pages 130-132). 

Cell Differentiation

Adult stem cells are the cells that replace and regenerate damaged cells. Stem cells can morph into any cell needed by the body. This differentiation involves the construction of different cell-surface sugar structures on their cell membrane. Remember that each cell has a copy of all the DNA necessary to make any cell within the body. It just depends upon which genes get read as to what part of the blueprint gets built. Even as cells grow and mature, their glycoproteins can change, indicating their age and maturity. 

Transport Mechanism

Most plasma proteins (proteins in the blood that carry things around the body), like transferrin and mannose binding lectins (MBLs), hormones like insulin, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSh), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and some enzymes like alkaline phosphatase, are all glycoproteins. Seventy percent of all human protein is glycoprotein. So, these sugars are attached to proteins and lipids floating virtually everywhere in the body. They perform a logistical function similar to an envelope being sent through the postal system. They make sure the needed contents get from the sender to the receiver quickly and effectively; in this way, the body can perform all of its various regulatory functions to maintain balance within the ever-changing body.

​Signal Transduction

Glycans are involved in all aspects of cell-to-cell communication. Signal transduction, notch signaling, ligand-receptor binding, and fertilization are all examples of this function. Glycoprotein cell receptors are composed of cell-surface sugar structures that serve as gateways or lock/key systems controlling access to the cell. Outside molecules dock on these receptors. When they successfully dock, a message is transmitted from the outside to the inside of the cell. A metabolic pathway of chemical reactions associated with the internal structure of the glycoprotein is opened up and turned on. This results in genetic instructions being transcribed from genes inside the nucleus. The cell reads these instructions and takes the actions to respond and handle the request properly. The hormone insulin is a great example. It flows from the pancreas through the blood and docks on an insulin receptor on destination cells. The hormone acts like a key to turn the cell receptor lock and open the door so the cell can cause cellular machinery to run and handle blood sugar appropriately. The picture below is an example of a specific type of signal transduction called Notch signaling. The notch protein spans the cell membrane with part of it inside and part outside. The part outside has the glycans. A ligand glycoprotein from the sending cell binds to the receiving (bottom) cell via its glycoprotein sugars (the notch). This binding causes a conformational change (a physical bending) in the antenna structure. 

Notch Signaling Details

Inside the receiving cell, the protein sheath covering otherwise hidden proteins has been pulled up due to the conformational change, and enzymes read the newly exposed proteins. The conformational change involves a twist and bending of the antenna structure, which is caused by the electromagnetic forces generated when the sender's molecules bind to the receiver's antenna. This structural change in the glycoprotein antenna exposes the proteins underneath the sleeve in the same way pulling up your long-sleeved shirt exposes your arm. Enzymes can then read the exposed proteins. Molecules within the cytoplasm are then directed to enter the nucleus and transcribe the targeted gene. The instructions from the gene are read, and action is taken in accordance with those instructions. DNA is transcribed into mRNA, and glycoproteins are built in the ribosomes (R), Golgi apparatus (GA), and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to convert the instructions into actionable molecules. This is how gene expression takes place. Genes are turned on or expressed by events and forces outside the cell that appropriately bind to the cell. If there weren't a glycoprotein unique to the event, then nothing would happen. There has to be a lock and a key capable of fitting that lock for action to be initiated within the cell. 

Bacterial Infection, Viral Attachment, and Immune System Function

Immune function relies heavily on glycoproteins for recognition, repair, and destruction processes like apoptosis. All immunoglobulins (antibodies) are glycoproteins. Selectins are glycoproteins that regulate inflammation and cytokine storms. The rolling action of immune system defense cells like macrophages is regulated by glycoproteins. In the picture below, circulating white blood cells like macrophages patrol the bloodstream; there, they sense glycoproteins being extended from endothelial cells on the interior wall of the blood vessel in the inflammatory region. Running into these glycoproteins induces a rolling action that slows the macrophage until it can adhere to a glycoprotein on one of the endothelial cells. The macrophage then squeezes through the juncture between endothelial cells as it follows the cytokine chemical signals emitting from the damaged tissue, just like a dog on the hunt. The macrophage then does battle with foreign invaders or engages in clean-up at the wound site.  

Let's now look briefly at how the science of glycobiology accounts for viral infection. Bacterial infection results from the lectins (glycoproteins) on the surface of bacteria attaching to glycoproteins on the surface of cells. Urinary tract infections result from E. coli bacteria attaching to the epithelial cell lining of the urinary tract. Almost all bacteria have lectins, and the terminal sugar on those lectins is mannose. This explains how macrophages can identify and destroy bacteria. Mannose binding lectins (MBL) are a transport plasma protein with a high affinity for mannose, fucose, and N-acetylglucosamine sugar residues that are usually found on invading microorganisms. MBL plays a major role in the activation of the complement pathway of the immune system. This method of activation is why the immune system easily detects foreign antigens associated with invading microorganisms. Free-floating mannose can also induce this same MBL-type of action without turning on the complement immune system. This is why supplementing mannose is such a good idea for creating and supporting an active immune system. 

What Cancer Isn't

Cancer authorities don't seem to be able to identify what it is or what causes it. Removing a lump with surgery, treating a tumor with radiation, or poisoning people with chemotherapy doesn't seem to do it. Even when the doctors declare, "We got it all," in most cases the cancer comes back—and often with a vengeance. That's because the lump wasn't the cancer in the first place. These approaches never address the immune system imbalances that caused the cancer. Those problems are still there. Surgery, radiation, and chemo are not the way to health. "It's like cutting off your nose to get rid of a cold; it doesn't solve the real, underlying problem...Cancer is the symptom of a sick body." ​

What Cancer Is

G. Edward Griffin has written several books on cancer. Of all the authorities I have consulted, I think he comes closest to accurately describing cancer. Allopathic medicine insists that cancer is caused by something like genetics. Alternative medicine says, "Cancer is not caused by something. It is caused by the lack of something. The lack of something, a breakdown in the body's normal ability to remain healthy...cancer is nothing but healing gone awry." He explains that just scratching our hands scrapes off hundreds of cells. Our body responds to this injury by triggering the mechanisms to start growing new cells. This is a natural healing process in motion. When the cells are finally replaced, they send signals out to the body saying, 'That's enough, stop now.' "But if the signals are not working right, the message doesn't stop the healing. It just continues to heal and heal and overgrow into a lump or bump. Is that the cancer? No, that's just a symptom of the cancer. The cancer is why the signals didn't work. There's something wrong with the signaling mechanism." Bingo. The immune system is not working correctly because the glycan signaling system, which constitutes the glycocalyx of these cells, is missing sugars. (The picture below shows macrophages attacking and trying to destroy a large cancer cell supplied with an extensive blood supply.)

Altered Glycosylation

The National Academy of Science has explained that "altered glycosylation is a universal feature of cancer and contributes to pathogenesis and progression." This means that when glycans are not correctly placed on the cell receptors, autoimmune and degenerative diseases will result. When cells do not communicate properly, the immune system gets confused. The immune system eliminates abnormal cells every day of our lives until one day it stops. We are not aware of the problem for 5 to 35 years, depending on how rapidly the cancer is growing. But the signaling mechanism has failed, and the sugars are the literal key that unlocks the door to cellular health. (The picture below depicts natural killer (NK) cells from the immune system trying to find a way to attach to cancer cells so they can destroy the abnormal cells.)

The Number 2 Disease Killer of Americans

According to the American Cancer Society, 609,820 people in the United States are estimated to have died from cancer in 2023 (1,670 deaths per day). This is an increase from 2022 projections most likely resulting from the side effects of the experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccine which caused an explosive growth in recurring cancer. While overall cancer is the second leading cause of death, notice that cancer is the leading cause of death for men and women between the ages 40 and 79 (a 40-year span!), and also, men between the ages of 60 and 79.

Additional statistics include the fact that 98% of all cancers metastasize and form secondary cancers. At least 90% of all cancer deaths are due to metastatic cells. This is why surgery and radiation are not effective. By the time of diagnosis, the cancer cells have already metastasized, making chemotherapy the only viable medical intervention. Chemotherapy is not effective except in a few cancers. Chemotherapy is ineffective 97% of the time. Taking all cancers together, chemo increases the odds of living 5 years after diagnosis by only 2% (61% to 63%), and that 2% increase is skewed by the positive chemo results from a mere three cancers: testicular cancer (40%), lymphomas (13%), cervical cancer (12%). 

Despite the medical system's emphasis on genetics as the cause of cancer, only 5% of all cancers are strongly hereditary. A study conducted by G. Hyland, M.D., and D. Miller, M.T., of Medcenter One, Department of Radiation and Oncology, in Bismarck, North Dakota, in June 1999, but never followed up with NIH funding, documented the effects of sugar nutrients on radiation and chemotherapy. The pilot study found that sugar nutrients: 1) did not inhibit tumor cell destruction by radiation and chemo. The nutrition actually enhanced their success; 2) sugar nutrients exerted a protective effect on normal cells and prevented excessive radiation and cytotoxic damage; 3) they induced reductions in tumor mass in malignancies that were resistant to all standard treatments; 4) they improved the quality of life for patients by reducing toxicity and side effects from radiation and chemotherapy. 

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy

In an endeavor to find a new treatment for cancer, researchers are adding a genetically engineered glycoprotein antenna to the outside of each T-cell removed from cancer patients.  The cells are genetically engineered to express CARs created to bind with a particular glycoprotein (antigen) on the patient's tumor cells. Chimeric means it is made up of lots of different parts and pieces genetically engineered into a single, new glycoprotein receptor. When the artificially engineered, altered T-cells are transfused back into the body, these receptors help the T-cells find the particular glycoprotein and kill the cancer cells. Since altered glycosylation is a feature of cancer cells, researchers hope this means they have some unique glycoproteins/cell antennas on their surface that are not in common with normal cells. If they can target them uniquely, they could destroy them with the body's altered T-cells.

Preliminary results were encouraging. An initial study involved 50 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and researchers reported that 82 percent of the children achieved complete remission after three months. Overall survival was 89 percent after six months and 79 percent after 12 months. However, there were extremely high fevers and inflammation because of the large amount of immune system chemicals generated to wage the war. Most patients developed a cytokine release syndrome—a total body inflammatory response. Immunotherapy uses the body's own ability to attack cancer. Unfortunately, while there are impressive rates of response, nearly half of those responding patients relapse within 1 to 2 years after CAR-T therapy. 

Scientists are hopeful that as the technical ability of glycobiologists improves, the problems associated with this cancer-fighting therapy might improve. After 50 years of the same old approach (cut, burn, poison), immunotherapy represents the best hope outside of prevention that cancer researchers have ever seen. 

A Shield and a Protection

The glycocalyx of these epithelial cells actually shields and protects the circulatory system or vascular walls from direct exposure to the friction caused by blood flow. They create a negatively charged network of glycoproteins and glycolipids. This electrical force field keeps the blood flowing above the ceiling of these cells and not on the floor where they would rub directly against and damage the surface cells constituting the lining of the blood vessel. Thus, the blood flow is buffered by an electrical charge off the sugar antennas, and this buffering minimizes the potential damage to surface blood vessel cells created by fluid traveling at high speed. On average, the blood travels 3 or 4 mph, equivalent to how fast adults walk. It takes only one minute for blood to make a round trip through the circulatory system and return to the heart. At the aorta, the blood is travelling 15 inches per second. By way of comparison, if you were standing on the banks of this river of blood at the aorta, the blood would be roaring and rushing by you like water coursing down rapids.​

Healthy Endothelial Glycocalyx

An actual picture taken from inside a blood vessel (vascular lumen) is depicted below. The forest of glycoproteins and glycolipids extending out from the host endothelial cells creates an invisible force field that the blood rides upon. This saves the interior of the blood vessel from the day-to-day wear and tear of constant, high-velocity fluid traveling within it. This is a critical factor in protecting the body from hardening of the arteries, so common in heart disease.

A Brief Word on Hypertension (high blood pressure)

The medical community generally treats heart disease with drugs called calcium channel blockers (CCBs). What do they do? They block excess calcium from going into the cells. If calcium doesn't go into bone and other cells, where does it go? All of these drugs aim to relax constricted blood vessels and reduce pressure, but the calcium has to go somewhere. So, the blood pressure may go down, but the risk for atherosclerosis and heart disease goes up! We are told not to worry because it is 'only a side effect' and there is another drug that can treat that ailment! One of the side effects of that second drug includes death, but no one talks about that until the autopsy. 

The majority of people have excess calcium (it is added to fortified foods in an inorganic form—not plant-based). The calcium cascade occurs if there is excess calcium in the body. The cascade leads to needing more and more magnesium to keep the calcium/magnesium ratio in balance. A magnesium deficiency leads to increased muscle tension (cramping), and nerve endings firing erratically and other electrical malfunctions in the body. In its need for more magnesium, the body suppresses the adrenal function to retain more of this vital mineral. Adrenal suppression causes a continuous loss of sodium and potassium in the urine, as well as overall depression (damping) of the immune system. This results in a loss of sodium needed to produce stomach acid that, in turn, is required to digest protein. This decline in digestive function causes heartburn and digestive disorders. Sodium depletion leads to a failure of the cell membrane electrical potential ion exchange. This voltage potential is necessary for cellular function and is the mechanism all cells (except fat cells) utilize to get essential amino acids and glucose into each and every cell.

From this explanation, it's easy to see that countless metabolic pathways all tie back to each other in diverse ways. For more information on the problems associated with calcium supplementation, see my book. And by the way, don't eliminate real salt (the kind that has minerals in it—you need those minerals!). Eliminate refined salt (so-called 'table salt') and replace it with real, sea salt, if you want to help with hypertension.