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Gene polymorphisms

GI MAP stool testing: DNA and antibiotic resistance genes

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Dr. Ben Lynch interviews Dr. David Brady’s on the Dirty Genes Summit (Jan 22 through Jan 29) and they cover stool testing and antibiotic resistance genes.

The section on antibiotic resistance genes is part of the discussion about the stool testing that Dr. Brady recommends: the GI Map test by Diagnostic Solutions Lab, a PCR/DNA test he helped to develop.

Before they get to the antibiotic resistance genes discussion, Dr. Brady shares more about this 2-year old test and why he has found it superior to other stool testing, sharing that it’s more comprehensive than what the gastroenterologist would do, plus the fact that other functional stool tests rely on culture technologies which has the limitation that you can only test bugs that you can grow. He shares that:

More than 95% of bugs in the gut can’t be grown on a petri dish. They are anaerobes or they are very difficult to culture.

He also discusses the process of testing for sensitivities to herbs (in some of the other stool tests) i.e. what herb will kill what bug, sharing that this is a flawed method:

While dropping specific prescriptive antibiotics on a culture has been methodically worked out to correlate with a certain dose of that antibiotic orally, it’s never been done for herbs and volatile oils.

Dr. Brady does discuss one other major advantage of the GI MAP test:

We look for antibiotic resistance genes, both phenotype and genotype of the microbiotia and looking through the genetic signatures of antibiotic resistance. So if you’re going to use a prescriptive antibiotic, we can tell you if the microbiotia of the patient harbors the genes for resistance to sulfonamide or fluoroquinolones or some others.

I see great value in this beyond finding a solution for addressing the pathogens. This is because we know antibiotics have side-effects and some like the fluroquinolones can actually cause anxiety, depression, insomnia, panic attacks, clouded thinking, depersonalization, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, nightmares, and impaired memory. We cover this in detail in the Anxiety Summit interview with Lisa Bloomquist, fluoroquinolone toxicity patient advocate: Antibiotic Induced Anxiety – How Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Induce Psychiatric Illness Symptoms

When it comes to genetics work and testing, dr. Brady endorses Dr. Peter D’Adamo, Opus23 and Dr. Ben Lynch, recognizing the importance of science and looking at the clinical presentation of the patient rather than individual SNPs.  I would have loved hearing some examples of what he means by this.  

All in all, this is a fascinating interview and well worth listening to!

Register for the Dirty Genes Summit here – to hear this entire interview and learn from Dr. Ben Lynch and the other experts he interviews.

Hope you can join in!

Please post questions and comments below.

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day – say NO to Benzodiazepines for anxiety!

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world benzo awareness day july 11 2016

Today, July 11th, is  World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day

This date was designated in recognition of Prof. Heather Ashton’s significant contributions to the benzodiazepine cause over so many decades; together with all of the help she has given to so many people around the world.

In honor of World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day, also called W-BAD I’ve decided to re-release a webinar I did last year: Say NO to Benzodiazepines for anxiety  [CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND THE WEBINAR]

say no-to-benzo

Here is an excerpt of the overview from: Say NO to benzodiazepines for anxiety! 

Benzodiazepines are a class of psychoactive drugs that work by enhancing the effect of the calming neurotransmitter GABA, and are used to treat anxiety, insomnia, pain, muscle spasms and a range of other conditions. They are widely prescribed, particularly among elderly patients and may even be used off-label with children with autism.

Use of this medication is very controversial.  We know long term use leads to tolerance, dependence, and many adverse psychological effects and even physical effects. Short term use is generally considered safe but even using them for 2 – 4 weeks can lead to problems for certain individuals.

This presentation provides an overview of benzodiazepines; when they are used; who they are prescribed to; details about tolerance, dependence, and the many adverse effects; how to taper, including nutritional support during the taper; what to do instead of saying yes to a benzodiazepine prescription in the first place; and additional resources.

Here is one of the benzo stories I share in the webinar:

world benzo awareness day story

 

We know that some individuals are much more affected than others when it comes to tolerance and withdrawal.  Here are some other possible factors that may affect tolerance and withdrawal:

world benzo awareness day liver enzymes

During season 4 of the Anxiety Summit, Lisa Bloomquist talked about Antibiotic Induced Anxiety – How Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Induce Psychiatric Illness Symptoms.   During this interview she shared how:

People who have gone through benzodiazepine withdrawal before should never take a fluoroquinolone because essentially it can throw people right back into the benzo withdrawal – because it has very similar effects on people’s GABA’s receptors as what happens when people go through benzodiazepine withdrawal. 

I would love to see a survey of people who have experienced adverse effects when using benzodiazepines as prescribed or when tapering. Could these be some of the contributing factors?

  • Taking Valium/ diazepam and have the CYP2C19 polymorphism (about 10-20% of Western populations are defective in genes of the CYP liver enzyme superfamily)
  • Taking Xanax/ alprazolam and have CYP3A5 polymorphism (about 10-20% of Western populations are defective in genes of the CYP liver enzyme superfamily)
  • Taking any benzodiazepine and also
    • Taking oral contraceptives
    • Taking a course of antibiotics
    • Taking a course of one of the fluoroquinolone antibiotics
    • On an SSRI prescription
    • Taking a course of antifungal medications
    • Drinking alcohol on a regular basis
    • On an opioid such as oxycodone
    • Drinking grapefruit juice on a regular basis

For withdrawal/tapering, the best resource I know of is Benzo.org.uk which contains the Ashton Manual. You will need to educate yourself and your doctor and/or find a doctor willing to help you with the adjusted prescription. It does need to be done very very very slowly.

Finding a good support group like Benzobuddies.org  is very helpful for many of my clients. Just be aware that this group and some of the other support groups say no to any supplements during the taper process. I find it to be very individualized and have many clients that see great benefit by using GABA, tryptophan, zinc, magnesium and other nutrients. (You can read more about this here: Anxiety and the amino acids overview)

That being said some people tapering can only tolerate very low amounts of the amino acids (like a dab or pinch from a capsule) and some can’t tolerate any supplements and do better with essential oils, yoga, light therapy and dietary changes.

You can find more information on World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day on Benzo Case: Raising Awareness about Benzodiazepine Drugs  (widely prescribed for anxiety, stress, sleep, pain and much more…) and additional stories on the World Benzo Awareness facebook page.

World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day was conceived by the acting Chair Barry Halsam, former Chair of Oldham TRANX, and jointly organized by Wayne Douglas, founder of benzo.case.com / benzo-case-japan.com

Please read share so your loved ones are informed and can say NO to benzos!  

If you have experienced adverse effects when taking or tapering from benzodiazepines I’d love some feedback on the above possible contributing factors.

 

The Anxiety Summit – Anxiety: Biochemical and genetic predispositions

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Dr. Benjamin Lynch, ND Researcher/writer/speaker on MTHFR and methylation defects, was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Anxiety: Biochemical and genetic predispositions – COMT, GAD & MAOA                                                                                         

  • MTHFR, methylation, SAMe and anxiety (and other health effects)
  • Good forms of folate
  • How too much folate can raise norepinephrine and cause anxiety
  • COMT genetic polymorphisms and anxiety: estrogens, xenoestrogens and sulfur
  • MAOA genetic polymorphisms and anxiety: tyramines and histamine
  • GAD genetic polymorphisms and anxiety: MSG, glutamates and GABA
  • How to test for and interpret these genetic polymorphisms?
  • Three top recommendations to reduce anxiety

Here are a few snippets from our interview:

MTHFR helps produce the body’s most active form of folate. So when you eat your uncooked leafy greens or your steamed leafy greens, you are getting ample amounts of methylfolate, which is great. But if you’re eating your dried cereal, your energy bars, your energy drinks or taking your prenatal vitamins and you think you’re doing a great thing and all of these things have this synthetic folic acid, then that is a big problem, because folic acid is absolutely synthetic and that folic acid has to be transformed into the most active form of folate, which is methylfolate because that’s what your body uses. It doesn’t use folic acid. You think folic acid is actually useful for things like neural tube defects, but it’s not; it actually has to be transformed. And so MTHFR contributes the last most important step for that to happen.

Methylfolate, along with vitamin B12, and the protein that you eat help make one of the most important compounds called SAMe. So when you eat your protein and your methylfolate levels are adequate, then you are able to make your neurotransmitters. And if you are unable to make neurotransmitters or eliminate them, you’re going to have symptoms of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenic episodes, manic episodes, and so on.

The GAD enzyme helps get rid of glutamate and turns that into our docile calming GABA neurotransmitter. It needs magnesium and vitamin B6 to function.

One gene that’s very common in the population that’s also kind of messed up is COMT. COMT is a gene which does multiple, multiple things, but one of which is helps break down dopamine. The other one, it helps break down estrogen.

Another one for anxiety is MAOA, so that’s monoamine oxidase. Histamine is very related to anxiety, and that’s tied in because of the MAOA enzyme, so reducing your histamine-containing foods is a big one.

We mentioned that we’d share some links to MTHFR blog posts on Dr. Lynch’s site.  Here is one – MTHFR A1298C Mutation: Some Information on A1298C MTHFR Mutations and MTHFR C677T Mutation: Basic Protocol

We didn’t mention specific studies during the interview but here are a few:

Dr. Lynch discussed the 23andme genetic testing and said this:

Genetic testing should be an empowering thing for you. You know it’s access to knowledge that can really be beneficial to you, if it’s utilized properly.

Here are links for 23andme  (my affiliate link) for doing the genetic testing, and Geneticgenie.com  and MTHFRsupport.com for getting the reports.

Here is information about Dr Lynch’s part 1 and part 2 practitioner training (which is very heavily referenced): Methylation & Clinical Nutrigenomics

Dr. Lynch has a free download: folate video presentation along with a pathway planner

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here www.theAnxietySummit.com