The Weekly Dose - Episode 28

The Weekly Dose...

... the latest from Dr Karan

  Here is your weekly dose...  

Hi all!Here is your weekly dose of the Sunday Six! A few things I found interesting this week. If you enjoy this please feel free to forward this to friends. families and enemies alike!**You'll find more in depth analysis of some of these subjects on my social platforms in the links just below, including Dr Karan Investigates! for deep dives into interesting topics on my YouTube channel.**

Do This To Poop 1.5x More Per Week!...

Doctors and Scientists are strange creatures so you may or may not be surprised to hear that there are actually quite a few studies published looking at the link between kiwi consumption and poops per week.Anyway a recent randomised controlled trial was published in the American Journal Of Gastroenterology as follows:63 healthy controls and 60 patients with functional constipation 61 patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome were randomly assigned to consume two green kiwifruit or psyllium (7.5 g) per day for 4 weeks, followed by a 4-week wash-out, then the other treatment for 4 weeks.The upshot of the trial was that consumption of green kiwifruit was associated with a ≥ 1.5x increase in complete spontaneous bowel motions per week (clinically and statistically significant) and significantly improved measures of GI comfort in constipated participants. The best bit - no significant adverse events were observed.What does this mean? Well fibre is good and specifically kiwi works well! The whole fruit as I've mentioned countless times on social media contains both soluble and insoluble fibres and can be a low cost win to relief constipation and GI discomfort. In either way it's worth trying...a low hanging fruit if you will!

  Sexy Time Inside An MRI... 

This might be inappropriate. But since when has that ever stopped me..or you from enjoying these nuggets of knowledge?!Scientists decided, after much (little) deliberation I'm sure, to put some men into a brain scanner while they were receiving penile stimulation administered by their partner. In fact they even published a visual representation of this in the paper and they wanted to see specifically what happened in the brain during orgasm.Understandably it was hard to recruit people to this study so there were only six participants and they found evidence to suggest that during orgasm the brain releases endogenous opiates or natural painkillers. This is interesting because the synthetic opioid drugs like morphine which we use for pain relief bind to opioid receptors that naturally exist in the brain.Our brains produce chemicals that bind those same receptors and those are called endogenous opioid, endogenous meaning originating inside the body. These endogenous opioids help regulate pain relief, sexual pleasure, non-sexual pleasure and reward. This paper suggest that during orgasm those substances are released in the brain and was correlated with an increase brain activity in certain areas. Perhaps unlocking a non-sexual mechanism or even a pharmaceutical method to unlock this endogenous opioid release might be a way to combat the ever worrying opioid crisis?  

Probiotics...

I mentioned on my socials that I was approached by a couple of probiotic companies to promote their products for a lot of money. I said no. Not because I didn't want the money, but because if you've ever watched my videos you'll know my stance on probiotics and here's why:Imagine your gut microbiome is like a vast ocean. It contains trillions of microscopic lifeforms. You drinking a probiotic drink that claims to contain billions of "good" bacteria, is the equivalent of adding a teaspoon of sugar to the ocean and expecting it to taste sweet.Additionally considering you have a unique combination of bacteria in your gut, it is very hard to fathom that a one size fits all probiotic drink can be suitable for everyone. Would a shop sell a suit or a dress in one size and expect everyone to fit in to it? For more detailed science on probiotics check out one of my favourite videos I made on this topic. It might sway you..."The biggest scam in healthcare?"

  We Found A New Organ Inside The Brain.. 

I say we, but I mean some clever scientists, discovered a new anatomical structure in the brain - a thin layer of tissue that acts as a shield and keeps the brain's fluid clean. It's called the subarachnoid lymphatic-like membrane (SLYM) and it plays an important role in both the brain’s waste disposal and immune systems, acting as a protective barrier as well as harbouring immune cells.It is just a few cells thick and is one of four membranes between the skull and the brain. The other three are the dura, arachnoid, and pia mater membranes (literally translated from Latin as tough mother, spider mother and pious mother respectively!). All of these make up the meningeal layer. This new membrane divides the space beneath the arachnoid layer, the subarachnoid space, which contains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

In doing so, it helps in creating a barrier between the brain and the rest of the body. The SLYM , specifically, appears to separate freshly made, “clean” CSF from “dirty” CSF that contains cells’ waste products.Why is this important? It could have implications in the progression of brain injuries and diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Researchers even noticed that the number and diversity of immune cells in the SLYM increased in response to inflammation and ageing so in turn this could alter CSF flow patterns and help explain the prolonged suppression of glymphatic flow after traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative states.

In short, this new structure could be influencing a number of brain conditions – and its discovery could help us understand them better. 

Can You Stop The Heart With A Single Punch?...

It was hard to miss the news about the NFL player, Demar Hamlin, who collapsed after colliding with an opponent. Hamlin was struck in the chest by another player (blunt trauma) and briefly fell to the ground. Upon getting up, he stood motionless for a second before collapsing again to the floor. His heart had stopped, a cardiac arrest.We don't really know what precipitated this cardiac arrest experts threw around the term "commotio cordis"This is an extremely rare cause of a cardiac arrest that’s caused by a blunt blow to the chest. The sudden trauma disrupts the normal electrical signalling of the heart, causing the heart’s chambers to spasm and a chaotic heart rhythm. The end result is oxygenated blood failing to reach the vital organs and the heart stops, aka a cardiac arrest.  Part of the reason this condition remains so rare is that it requires the impact to strike the chest at a very particular moment in the heart’s electrical cycle - approximately 20 to 30 milliseconds within the cardiac cycle where the heart is vulnerable.Thankfully Hamlin received immediate CPR and according to recent reports he is now awake, alert and even sent a message to his team mates! Recycling The Dead...Initially the thought of this had me uncomfortable but the idea of human composting increasingly makes sense. Human composting has apparently been approved now by several US states - death is going eco friendly!Basically a mixture of wood chips, alfalfa and straw forms a burial cocoon in which the body is placed and within 30 days it breaks down and is transformed into a rich, nourishing soil. Although I'm not sue I'll want to eat any fruits grown from that compost sadly...From an environmental point of view, even if not psychologically just yet, it makes sense. It takes up less land, it reduces loss of forest space in making coffins and caskets and avoids the risk of leaking embalming fluid into the ground which can contaminate soil.It is something we should become more comfortable talking about. Death. How you want to be remembered, how you want to go, what you don't want in your last days. I spend a lot of my time having conversations with patients and families when it's too late when in actual fact these conversations should be happening well before when you are of sound mind and health to make the final stages easier to deal with. For you and your family.It is still very much taboo because who really wants to face up to their own mortality? 

As always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which of this weeks Sunday six is your favourite? Is there something you want more, or less of? I'm open to any suggestions so please let me know! Just send a  tweet to @drkaranrajan and use the hashtag #theweeklydose at the end so I can find it!

Have a wonderful week, all.

Much love,

Karan