Tag Archives: ulcers

but stress does cause ulcers…

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Zebras don’t get ulcers… when the lion chases a zebra all sorts of “stuff” happens inside of the zebra’s body that are healthy and life saving. Basically when the zebra sees the lion it says, “LION! holy shit!!” Then, the adrenal gland pushes out cortisol and adrenaline, the blood is shunted from the zebra’s organs to it’s muscles, it’s body mobilizes glucose from wherever it can, all systems are go and the zebra takes off. If it is lucky enough to escape then it sits under a shady tree, forgets all about the event (like it never happened), and eats some grass to restock its fuel sources. With that insulin rushes from its pancreas, muscles are restored with fuel, and the zebra lives to fight another day. This is an example of healthy stress (as long as you escape the claws/teeth and what have you). Without acute stressors in life we would actually die. The key here is that this is an acute stress not a chronic stress, chronic stress is a completely different matter. 

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Chronic stress kills. Humans do get ulcers; unlike zebras, our stress is chronic. We hold on to every stress and magnify it. We feel entitled, take everything personally and obsessively focus on our problems… 24 hour news channels, non stop voyeurism that is created by social media, the loudest society ever known. This adds to our addiction to fear and stress… we are a zebra being chased by a lion, only we are on a never ending tread mill and with that the physiologic responses are much different then our four legged friend. Our stress is chronic, the body says “holy shit!!” the adrenal gland pushes out cortisol and adrenalin, blood is shunted from the intestine, the body mobilizes glucose (breaks down our muscle), we don’t fight or flee (instead we sit and stare at our phones or computers) blood sugar increases, insulin then is released leading to stored fat. Our brain does not recognize that we are not being chased and gets the signal to eat to replenish food stores (emotional eating). We crave the wrong foods (simple and unhealthy). Insulin continues to rush from the pancreas (eventually leading to insulin receptor burn out and adult onset diabetes), we store more fat… eventually sick, fat and nearly dead… oh yeah and more chronically stressed.


Ulcers? Why ulcers? Well, chronic stress has been shown to increase inflammation in the body. It also decreases the function of the immune system. And, decreases secretion of a part of the immune system called igA, which protexts the intestinal cells from disease. In turn, it increases permeability of the intestine and has been associated with leaky gut syndrome and ultimately ulcerations on the lining of your stomach.


Solutions to this problem are easier than you think. Fear and gratitude cannot coexist. When the brain is focuses on gratitude there really is no room for petty stress. Do yourself a favor and be more like the zebra. Don’t focus on how much you have to do, or how bad it is; instead focus on what you have. Make everyday a Thanksgiving. What do you have to be grateful for?


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/chronic-stress-health-inflammation-genes_n_4226420.html

http://www.smartnutrition.co.uk/health-tests/secretory-iga/

http://scdlifestyle.com/2010/03/the-scd-diet-and-leaky-gut-syndrome/

Spray on Skin

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If you’ve ever been burned, cut, scraped or suffered from an ulcer anywhere on your skin you know how painful and time consuming the healing process can be. Ulcers most commonly found with older people just above the ankle can be painful as they become larger and more inflamed. These leg ulcers can take anywhere from 6 months to a year weeks to heal through compression socks, bandages, and elevation while sleeping. With the healing process in such a long frame of time it’s easy for these ulcers to become infected or worse.

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In response to not only ulcers but also all types of skin wounds doctors and scientist have come together to create a spray on skin which helps wounds heal faster without the need for skin grafts or other expensive surgeries. Healthpoint Biotherapetics, a company just out of Fort Worth, Texas has come up with a solution to treat these bothersome ulcers and other types of skin cuts, scrapes, and burns with their successfully tested spray on skin treatment. The small cylinder syringe spray bottle is the product of Healthpoint Biotherepetics created by doctors and scientists which is still in the testing stage. According to Healthpoint Biotherepetics the spray currently named HP802-2547 is made up of fibroblasts, an anti-clotting agent and keratinocytes, donated skin cells. These two substances work together in creating new skin for patients in an incredibly fast amount of time. With these two substances working together they speed up the body’s ability to heal and cover a wound. This spray on skin could prove to be a significant medical breakthrough if it passes through the testing stage as skin graphs and other types of surgeries can be costly and time consuming. Time is cut significantly on wounds healing through the spray on skin because the minimal effort of spraying the substance on the wound and wrapping it in bandages is all that is needed. Although this may affect jobs such as plastic surgeons negatively because of how cheap the treatment is less people would have a need for plastic surgery but in a larger perspective the benefits defiantly outweigh the downfalls.

In the first successfully tested spray on treatment, patient’s wounds and ulcers were sprayed every fourteen days and after 3 months 70 percent of the patients had completely healed from the spray on skin. In the control group 46 percent of the patients who had been using a placebo spray didn’t heal any faster. The patients who sprayed every 14 days saw great results as their wounds healed in as short as 50 days compared to the control group who healed after 71 days. With a positive 21 day quicker healing process the spray on skin proved to be quite successful in its first trial. Patients using the spray on skin could visually see the wound starting to shrink almost instantly after applying the spray.

In perspective just think about the positive influence this spray could have in the medical world if it were implemented in ER’s and Hospitals. Patient’s recovery time would not only be increasingly faster but it would also cut down on pain. Burn victims especially would benefit from the spray as the healing process can be expensive with skin graphs and long term in the healing process. Ultimately this miracle spray could cut down on hospital stays and costs, and eventually could be used at home.

Photo Source:

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