Intro:              00:00        
Podcasting from the base of Lake Tahoe in the Eastern Sierras comes The Medicine Wheel. We are a group of progressive physicians seeking solutions and enlightenment while surfing the seas of big data and summiting mountains of research. In an effort to make the practice of medicine more personal and medical knowledge more accessible and empower you, the listener to be as healthy as possible. Now, The Medicine Wheel.

Dr. Gerber:       00:33
Hello, I'm Dr. Michael Gerber for Medicine Wheel. Today, we're plotting, I hope not too plotty, through the alphabet of medical interest in integrative medical interest and we're moving on into the Bs. So we have to start of course, with B1, Thiamine. Thiamine was discovered in the 1930s when there was a epidemic of heart failure and enlarged hearts, especially in Japan when they started following the fashion of taking their native rice and polishing it and to take off the outside coating of the rice, which contained thiamine and it caused Beriberi, which is enlargement of the heart that was wet and dry, Beriberi, but it was enlargement of the heart and caused heart failure. And this is when it was first acknowledged to be a very important part of our human diet. So thiamine is also very important on a number of levels. It is incredibly important for alcohol detox and ethanol. It is actually is an antioxidant, but it breaks down into acetaldehyde, which is like formaldehyde, embalming fluid, and that's what causes all the damage of alcohol, brain damage, liver damage. So ethanol is broken down into acetaldehyde, which is in turn broken down by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which is an enzyme that is totally B1 dependent. And if you run out of thiamine, B1, that enzyme stops working and the acetaldehyde lingers over a longer period of time and causes alcohol to do its damage. So we always suggest for people who consume alcohol to take 500 milligrams of B1 before bed, after alcohol consumption, and this reduces the toxicity of alcohol on the body. So remember, take your thiamine before bed. B2 is riboflavin, and that is very important for our energy metabolism, makes NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and requires a riboflavin B2. And it's very important for the mitochondria, our little energy manufacturing plants in the cells to have riboflavin. And so it makes our energy and our ATP production. So riboflavin is very important. It also is of interest that it is the B vitamin that is yellow in color, so it turns the urine bright yellow when you consume riboflavin, B2. B number three is niacin or nicotinic acid, and it's a co-B3, niacinamide, niacin is famous for the flush, and it turns people bright red and itchy and can be very uncomfortable, whereas niacinamide doesn't do that at all. It was first noted in the 1930s in the Southern part of the United States when the diet was very high in corn and low in protein and the disease pellagra was first noticed and pellagra people turn red and their tongue swell up, and they have psychiatric difficulties. Noting this, a very famous orthomolecular pioneer, Abraham Hoffer, MD, and his cohort, Sir Humphry Osmand, both Canadians, started thinking about using niacin in schizophrenia. So in the 1950s and 60s, they first started doing experiments, giving niacin to schizophrenics in very high doses and it was by and large, highly successful. It kept schizophrenics back at work and more able to be in society. So niacin when taken in high doses goes above the flushing threshold and people no longer flush. Niacinamide has been noted since the 1940s to be a treatment for osteoarthritis, wear and tear, arthritis of the joints, in high doses about a thousand milligrams three times per day, and when worked up slowly, it's very easily tolerated. Too much niacinamide can cause nausea, so people have to work up to it gradually. In cardiology it was noted in the 1970s and 80s to be a cholesterol reducer and it still is used as a cholesterol reducing substance. Now of course cholesterol and the whole idea of cholesterol being the total bad guy in cardiovascular disease on many fronts has been debunked as cholesterol is actually an antioxidant and it's good for us, except when it's in very high concentrations. So niacin treatment is great for mood disorders and depression. And again, people have a sore red tone, swollen red tongue, that is a niacin deficiency or B3 deficiency. B5 is pantothenic acid, pantothena, double penathenic acid, and it's very important to support the adrenal glands. And the adrenal glands are the little pyramidal shape organs on top of the kidneys that give us all of our energy and antiinflammatory affects. So it's been very, very good for allergy support over the years. B5 has also been used as an acne treatment and it's sold commercially, on television, as an acne treatment. So, B5 is another wonderful B vitamin. B6 pyridoxine or pyridoxal-phosphate, which is the active form, is an important cofactor for neurotransmitter manufacturing, which are all of our brain chemicals, and keeps us awake and alert in good mood. It's also a mild diuretic, and has an anti-nausea property, especially when used in pregnancy for the nausea of pregnancy. It's also very helpful in Parkinson's disease and it also blocks prolactin, which is interesting. Prolactin is the pituitary hormone that when in nursing mothers causes the milk to be secreted from the breasts and sometimes mothers keep using their prenatal vitamins, which is high and B6 and a good to prevent nausea, but it also can block prolactin. So it's a good idea for nursing moms to stop their prenatal and move on to another multivitamin. Deficiencies also can cause cheilosis. And cheilosis is cracks around the corners of the mouth and that's a deficiency of B6. Moving along to B9, which is folic acid and methyl folate, which is the active form, and it prevents spinal cord disorders, neural tube defects in the developing fetus and spina bifida in infants during pregnancy and is very important. It also is important for patients that have genetic defects of MTHFR, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, which is a genetic block that inhibits people to do methylation. And methylation means when you add a methyl group, which is a single carbon to other molecules to help the body detox. And people that don't have MTHFRs also exhibit a high homocysteine, which is a back shoot of methianine, which usually signals an MTHFR defect. And this causes difficulty in detoxification and increased blood coagulability or sticky blood and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. So having folic acid in your supplementation is probably a very good idea. Now B12, it goes right along with folic, and it's the anti pernicious anemia vitamin. So people that have the MTHFR blockage need it also, but it's a good idea to be supplemented in vegetarians because it is an animal based vitamin. So it needs to be supplemented in vegetarians and people who have deficiency of it, also causes large red blood cells. So people that have big red blood cells need to take extra B12. And this can be supplemented sublingually, and of course, it can be given by shot which we have done for 45 years, and it's very helpful for people's energy production as well. A deficiency of B12 can also cause memory deficiencies and early brain aging. So having adequate amounts of B12, either by supplementation or in your diet is important. Well, betaine is our next B and that's trimethylglycine and it helps with high homocysteine and the MTHFR mutation that we just mentioned. And it's also helpful when in the hydrochloride form it improves stomach acid and the stomach acid is very important, we need our good stomach acid to digest our proteins and absorb minerals. And Jonathan Wright MD, our old friend and teacher colleague from state of Washington has given us a new 'pause', so we all know about menopause, when women's hormones start going lower at menopause, and andropause which is when men's testosterone starts reducing as we age, but he also introduced the concept of gastropause; So as we age, our stomach acid also goes down and our ability to absorb our nutrients in our food is also weakened. So stimulating hydrochloric acid production with betaine hydrochloride is a very good idea as we age. Now we have a product called Bio-Gest and that has betaine hydrochloride, glutamic acid and digestive enzymes. Papain, which is from the papaya plant. Bromelains, which is from the other plants and pancreatic enzymes to improve absorption and digestion. It reduces gas and bloating and again, as a treatment for gastropause. Now, Bromelains again, these are enzymes from the pineapple root, which are anti inflammatory, digestive and helpful for bruising, arthritis and allergy. There's the old football players trick of getting bruised up on game day, on Friday night or Saturday, and taking lots of pancreatic enzymes, or bromelain, And the bruising is diminished by their next practice on Monday. So people that have bruising or swelling of any variety can be helped by bromelains. Berberine. Berberine is coptis herb from China. It's also called golden thread from which Rapunzel got her name. It's high in the goldenseal, Oregon grape root, and great for a number of digestive disorders including Helicobacter pylori, which is present in about 50% of us. And Helicobacter is a bad boy bacteria that causes stomach ulcers and duodenum ulcers and a great number of other autoimmune problems. It is also helpful to reduce blood sugar in diabetics. And berberine is an aromatase inhibitor. Now, aromatase is the enzyme that inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen and testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, which is a stronger testosterone and that can increase enlargement of the prostate and hair loss. So berberine been used for centuries in Chinese medicine and in native American herbology, Burbur, B, U, R, B, U, R, it's a grass from the Andes mountains, and which is, a drainage remedy. It helps open up lymphatic systems, liver and kidneys. And it's very valuable when patients are going through detox, especially when killing Lyme or other infections. So it helps the body, if people are having a detox reaction, mild fevers, a little depression, weakness, fatigue, this helps to alleviate those symptoms. And so a Burbur, which is, again, a grass from the Andes is a very helpful remedy to take during detox or when people are killing parasites or bacteria. Boluoke, lumbrokinase. And Boluoke is a brand of earthworm enzymes, which thin the blood by blocking fibrin formation. When doing live cell analysis, we can see blood from a drop of blood under the microscope and fibrin is precipitated and it looks like hay straws and this is part of the clot and Boluoke inhibits that so it can be done two to six per day of these capsules and it is very important to keep our blood thin. It also helps to reduce the coating on bacteria and parasites and fungi, which inhibit the body's immune system from attacking it. Bergamot bergamot is an extract from oranges from Southern Italy and it is very important to lower cholesterol and triglycerides, which are blood fats. So it's, and it's nontoxic, it's an orange extract and it has other antioxidant functions as well. Butterbur, this is a herb which has been proven to treat and prevent migraine headaches. It's usually given in combination with feverfew, herbs for migraines. It can be done routinely or as needed for a treatment for migraine headaches. And a lot of migrainers love butterbur and again, there are no side effects. Belladonna, which means pretty woman, Belladonna was first used in Italy and other Mediterranean countries and women before going out on dates would take a little bit of this fairly poisonous herb in high doses and it would make their cheeks red and dilate their pupils. Hence, belladonna, pretty woman. So they used it as that, for many years, but highly diluted, It is powerful for many ailments which have sudden onset and severity such as high fevers and teething. In regular allopathy, It's used in regular medicine, used in very small amounts for abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome. It's great for rage and sudden redness of the face. And so it's great in children and people who have issues with explosive psychiatric conditions and rage. Black cohosh and blue cohosh, these are herbs that have been known for centuries around the world and have mild estrogenic properties to help with menopause and fertility issues, especially for people after stopping birth control, it helps to regulate their periods and return fertility. It's also a uterine tonic and great to control bleeding after childbirth and it a hemostatic and it shuts down the uterus after childbirth. Homeopathically and it's very diluted form, it's used for threatened miscarriages and many other syndromes around fertility. Bupleurum, this is a Chinese herb that's used for treating excessive heat in the body, high blood pressure, anger, and it's frequently a male herb given to men. Bucco, which is a combination of herb tinctures from Nestmann company in Germany, it treats kidney effects afflictions and prevents kidney stones and inflammation in the kidneys. Borax, which is boron, which is a trace mineral important to treat arthritis open cell membranes and it takes calcium out of soft tissues and places it into bone. It also protects us from electromagnetic fields and many more uses. It may help to detoxify our pineal gland, which is from the pine cone that sits in the middle of our brain and it's the pineal gland, makes our melatonin. And melatonin, of course, is the guy that helps to turn down all of our anterior pituitary hormones and helps us to sleep at night. It is also very powerful as an anticancer agent and antiinflammatory agent. So boron helps to decalcify the pineal clan, which starts becoming calcified at puberty. So it takes calcium out of the wrong places and out of our joints and puts it into our bones where need it. Bryonia, this is a important herb, but when used in homeopathic potencies, it's great for arthritis and pain and irritability and inflammation of all membranes. So Bryonia is the homeopathic for osteoarthritis that's worse with exercise and worse with movement. Beta-sitosterol is very useful for enlarged prostate and is found in Pygeum, Africana and other herbs that are helpful for the enlarged prostate, especially in an aging men. Borage oil. Borage oil is a good source of GLA is an antiinflammatory fatty acid, which treats arthritis and skin diseases. It's another one of these oils and anti-inflammatory oils, that's great to help alcohol toxicity GLA is blocked by alcohol and there are borage and Primrose societies in Europe that have taken these oils and plants for centuries to promote longevity and good health. Well, here are a few of the Bs, and I'm Dr. Michael Gerber for The Medicine Wheel. We'll see you soon for the Cs. Thank you very much.

Outro:       22:20
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