Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 26

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Sleep Restriction and Immune Health

It has long been known that sleep is a truth teller of mood. The poorer the sleep quality, the poorer the emotional response. Every parent knows this with a child short on sleep. What are the cellular effects?

From an abstract looking at catch up sleep and human inflammation we find the following: “Despite its prevalence in modern society, little is known about the long-term impact of restricting sleep during the week and ‘catching up’ on weekends. This common sleep pattern was experimentally modeled with three weeks of 5 nights of sleep restricted to 4 h followed by two nights of 8-h recovery sleep. In an intra-individual design, 14 healthy adults completed both the sleep restriction and an 8-h control condition, and the subjective impact and the effects on physiological markers of stress (cortisol, the inflammatory marker IL-6, glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity) were assessed. Sleep restriction was not perceived to be subjectively stressful and some degree of resilience or resistance to the effects of sleep restriction was observed in subjective domains. In contrast, physiological stress response systems remain activated with repeated exposures to sleep restriction and limited recovery opportunity…… and a section on literature review.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 25

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Reading Part II
Let us follow up on last weeks newsletter on reading as a cultural advantage and a human need in truth. What do we know about the neuroscience of reading dysfunction or weakened ability to achieve the goal of reading proficiency? What is the frequency of concern?
Depending on the study, 5-10% of children have reading issues like dyslexia. This has profound lifelong consequences if these issues are not dealt with in the early years of education.
Let us start again by looking at the neuroanatomy of the human reading interface. The first point of human involvement in reading is visual acceptance of the written word on page. In order to complete this task one must be able to see the word clearly in the order that it is displayed on the page and then send the neuroception to the brain via the optic nerve to the visual cortex. Then the angular gyrus interprets the words leaving the frontal lobes to engage in decoding and comprehending the information. This intricate interplay of neural networks not only facilitates the understanding of written language but also strengthens cognitive functions such as memory in the hippocampus, attention in the prefrontal cortex, and critical thinking in the neocortex…plus a piece on exercise.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 24

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Reading

If you want to spend any amount of time with your child beyond hugs, feeding and basic life duties, I would recommend reading above all else. I find it hard to believe that this is the first article that I have written on reading. I pondered that for a minute and concluded that this, in effect, was me taking this information for granted. That ends today.

When I reflect on my journey on the road to reading literacy, I note that I was not an avid reader. Nay, I hated reading for most of my childhood. My first self chosen pleasure book was The Firm when I was 23 years old. Why would this be? To sit for me was and is akin to mild torture. While other kids loved to dive into a book, that was not for me. Run, play, drum, hike, yes sir. All in….plus a Literature Review and section on Memorial Day.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #74 – Philip Bugaiski OD – Vision Beyond 20/20

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This week I sit down with Philip Bugaiski to discuss ocular tracking, reading difficulties and vision therapy.
Dr. Bugaiski was born in New York and first developed an interest in optometry as a result of childhood vision challenges, requiring vision therapy. He studied science as an undergraduate at the Penn State University graduating with honors. He was awarded one of six national scholarships for optometry from the US Air Force. He served his country with distinction. He finished his doctoral work at the State University of New York College of Optometry. He completed fellowships in Synotic Optometry and Vision Therapy. He worked as Chief of Pediatrics and Vision Therapy for a multi-doctor practice until he founded The Developmental Vision Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. He specializes in Vision Development, Vision Therapy, Pediatric Optometry, and Vision Rehabilitation.
Dr. Bugaiski is also North Carolina’s only Fellow of the College of Syntonic Optometry. He is a sought-after guest speaker for various groups on a local, national, and international level.
All too often, children and adults are told that their eyes are healthy, they have 20/20 eyesight or their glasses are the correct power, and there is nothing else to be done. They are told that their reading issues are inborn dyslexia and other reductionistic diagnosis. At The Developmental Vision Center, Dr. Bugaiski looks beyond 20/20 eyesight. His team is there to treat the person, not just their eyes. Vision therapy is a program of progressive visual activities performed under doctor supervision, individualized by a vision therapist to fit the needs of each patient. In a statement, he is treating the child not a diagnostic name.
Please enjoy my conversation with Philip Bugaiski,
Dr. M
Dr. Bugaiski Website
LinkedIn Link

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 23

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Stress and a Woman’s Ability to Conceive – The Healthy Mind Is Key.
How was it meant to be?  Humans were designed to be excellent at handling acute stress while chronic stress on the other hand was never expected to be part of our day to day existence. We run from the tiger and survive the event or we die. That being said, chronic mental stress is the greatest disruptor of human balance and health. To truly know this fact and work towards alleviating it is the immediate route to a healthy life and a healthy pregnancy. Mental stress has profound negative effects on immune and hormonal function to the detriment of mom and her babe. Chronic mental stress is known to disrupt pregnancy conception and perinatal events. Perception of one’s stress is often more important than the event itself. Becoming aware of your perceptions and working toward a minimally stressed mind is a key to a healthy pregnancy. A woman should be honored and protected while pregnant to keep external stress levels low. In this chapter, you will learn why and how stress has the ability to hurt a pregnancy. The to do section gives tools to reverse the negative process……plus a graduation note.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #73 – Dustin Whitney – The Demographic Deception.

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Demographic Deception
This week I sit down with Dustin Whitney to discuss population growth and its relevance to everyday life.

Dustin is an author, an entrepreneur and a man looking at the world through a different lens. He recently published book the Demographic Deception which outlines the reality that the global population is contracting as opposed to the rapidly expansion that has been espoused by many over the past 40 years. He gives us a politically agnostic but incredibly optimistic view of the demographic problem.

Dustin graduated from Boston College with a BA in marketing from Carrol School of Management in 1995. He subsequently entered the business world achieving business acumen while growing various companies. He is described as a modern-day business executive with balance in his life. Innovative thinking and good use of common sense have helped his businesses succeed. As a people person as well as a business person, Dustin has always been interested in what people do, and how they do it. Dustin is focused on building teams and fostering collaboration. The goal is to bring people and ideas together to facilitate progress and success.
Dustin brings his 25+ years of business executive experience paired with a passion and mission to uncover and analyze global trends to help us understand how those trends impact long-term business growth and human life. We dive into all things population based covering healthcare, history and an optimistic future. In a word, this conversation is expanding.
Please enjoy my conversation with Dustin Whitney,
Dr. M
Dustin Whitney Website
LinkedIn Link

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 22

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What are the main preventable etiologies for childhood death under the age of five years?
According to the data compile by UNICEF, we see the following for the world:
1) Prematurity 18%
2) Pneumonia 14%
3) Birth Asphyxia 12%
4) Malaria 9%
5) Diarrhea 9%
6) Congenital anomolies 8%
7) Injuries 5%
8) Blood infections/sepsis 3%
9) Tuberculosis 3%
10) all others
From a global perspective, we are on the right track as deaths have decreased significantly from 12 million in 1990 to less than 5 million annually in 2022. This is a massive improvement in global childhood health. More work to be done as pneumonia and diarrhea based death should be less than 1%. Access to clean water, clean medicines and adequate medical care could crush these issues….plus a literature review as well as an ode to mothers.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

 

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