La deficiencia de vitamina D y la contaminación del aire exacerban el COVID-19 mediante la supresión del péptido antiviral LL37

Front. Public Health, 28 May 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00232

La deficiencia e insuficiencia de vitamina D (VDD) son ampliamente reconocidos como factores de riesgo de infecciones del tracto respiratorio. La vitamina D influye en la expresión de muchos genes con relevancia bien establecida para las infecciones de las vías respiratorias y relevante para la función del sistema inmunológico. Recientemente, se ha demostrado que la VDD es un factor de riesgo para la adquisición y la gravedad de COVID-19. Por lo tanto, el tratamiento de VDD presenta una oportunidad segura y económica para modular la gravedad de la enfermedad.  La VDD es común en las personas mayores de 60 años, muchas con afecciones comórbidas y en personas con pigmentación cutánea suficiente para reducir la síntesis de vitamina D. La exposición a la contaminación del aire por partículas finas también se asocia con peores resultados de COVID19. La vitamina D estimula la transcripción de catelicidina que se escinde para generar LL37. LL37 es un antimicrobiano innato con actividad demostrada contra una amplia gama de microbios, incluidos los virus de la envoltura. LL37 también modula la señalización de citocinas en el sitio de las infecciones. Las partículas finas en la contaminación del aire pueden interferir con la destrucción de virus LL37 y pueden reducir la modulación de señalización inmunológica efectiva por LL37. Si bien la vitamina D influye en la transcripción de muchos genes relacionados con la inmunidad, la respuesta antimicrobiana debilitada de las personas con VDD contra el SARS-CoV-2 puede deberse en parte a la reducción de LL37.

Conclusión: La vitamina D juega un papel importante en la reducción del impacto de los procesos de enfermedades pulmonares virales. La deficiencia de vitamina D es una amenaza para la salud pública reconocida que justifica la acción de toda la población para reducir la morbilidad y la mortalidad por COVID-19. Si bien la vitamina D influye en la transcripción de muchos genes relacionados con la inmunidad, la respuesta antimicrobiana debilitada de las personas con VDD contra el SARS-CoV-2 puede deberse en parte a la reducción de LL37. Se necesitan acciones para abordar los riesgos asociados con COVID-19 de contaminación del aire de la industria, el transporte, las fuentes domésticas y el humo de tabaco primario y pasivo.

Ver el texto completo en inglés o descargarlo gratuitamente de Frontiers in Public Health https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00232/full

Vitamin D Deficiency and Air Pollution Exacerbate COVID-19 Through Suppression of Antiviral Peptide LL37

Front. Public Health, 28 May 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00232

Mardi A. Crane-Godreau1,2*, Kathleen J. Clem3, Peter Payne1,2 and Steven Fiering1
  • 1Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, United States
  • 2Bodymind Science, LLC, Arlington, VT, United States
  • 3Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, United States

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency (VDD) are widely recognized as risk factors for respiratory tract infections. Vitamin D influences expression of many genes with well-established relevance to airway infections and relevant to immune system function. Recently, VDD has been shown to be a risk factor for acquisition and severity of COVID-19. Thus, treating VDD presents a safe and inexpensive opportunity for modulating the severity of the disease. VDD is common in those over 60 years of age, many with co-morbid conditions and in people with skin pigmentation sufficient to reduce synthesis of vitamin D. Exposure to fine particulate air pollution is also associated with worse outcomes from COVID19. Vitamin D stimulates transcription of cathelicidin which is cleaved to generate LL37. LL37 is an innate antimicrobial with demonstrated activity against a wide range of microbes including envelope viruses. LL37 also modulates cytokine signaling at the site of infections. Fine particles in air pollution can interfere with LL37 destruction of viruses and may reduce effective immune signaling modulation by LL37. While vitamin D influences transcription of many immune related genes, the weakened antimicrobial response of those with VDD against SARS-CoV-2 may be in part due to reduced LL37.

Conclusion: Vitamin D plays an important role reducing the impact of viral lung disease processes. Vitamin D deficiency is an acknowledged public health threat that warrants population-wide action to reduce COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. While vitamin D influences transcription of many immune related genes, the weakened antimicrobial response of those with VDD against SARS-CoV-2 may be in part due to reduced LL37. Action is needed to address COVID-19 associated risks of air pollution from industry, transportation, domestic sources and from primary and second hand tobacco smoke.

Full text view or download freely available from Frontier in Public Health https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00232/full

NEUROSCIENCE—The Bad, the Good, & the Transcendent. Part II
As neuroscience has turned its attention to

feelings,
consciousness,
the self,

it has become clear that a lot of simple everyday concepts
that we all (scientists too!) assumed were valid—
—are not good descriptions of what is really going on in the mind and brain.

This is HUGE. These insights, although hard to digest,
point towards a whole new way of experiencing.

 

For instance, basic concepts like
“perception”,
“action”,
“thought”,
“emotion”,
“I”
“it”
turn out to be flawed.

Stunning! Who’d‘a thunk?

These concepts separate and distort the underlying reality,
which does not divide things up into separate categories like this.
These categories are relics of a dualistic way of thinking.

We need to find a different way.

Another example of the dualistic tendency of our conceptual mind.
is the tendency to think of the brain/mind as modular,
with separate regions performing separate specialised tasks.

In reality, The brain operates as a coherent whole,
Not separate from body and environment;

more like an orchestra, or the ripples on the ocean
than a machine or computer.

The more awake you are, the more connected the brain is;
this means that large areas vibrate at the same frequencies,
or even multiples; this is the same principle behind musical chords that sound pleasant (consonant).

In addition, the more awake & balanced you are,
the more brain activity hovers
“on the edge of chaos”;
poised between too much order & too little,
at the “Goldilocks” place!

This Natural State is inherently pleasant, just like a resonant chord.

Moving into this connected state
necessarily must involve mind, feelings and body;
separating them is obviously not connecting them!

—When the whole system works without obstruction, we call this the Natural State.
In this state, we are fully connected, acting effortlessly & spontaneously, without inner conflict, and fully integrated with the environment.

Unfortunately, we are not often in this state! Everybody gets in their own way, more than we realize. The essence of Bodymind Training is to learn how to let go of interference and move towards the Natural State in all situations of life.

Below is a little map:
We can move into the Natural State directly
through experiencing the actual wholeness of our being in the moment:

Standing solidly on the earth,
floating lightly towards the sky, and
open to what is all around us.

1) Why “bodymind”?

Introduction

Bodymind practices (also termed “somatic” practices) are therapeutic and educational methods based on the recognition that “body” and “mind” are not two separate things.

This is NOT the same as saying that body and mind influence each other. The bodymind perspective adopts the radical view that our body and mind, and our environment, form a single unity, “Body”, “feelings”, “mind”, “self” and “other”, are just different aspects of that unity; in the same way that different facets of a jewel are not separate things.

Unfortunately, the view that separates mind and body, self and other, is very deeply conditioned into us; and it is not easy to really grasp this new perspective. And yet, it is vitally important; much of our suffering as modern humans is due to this belief in separation. It is the aim of the bodymind practices to awaken recognition of this prior unity, and in the process to relieve stress, trauma, and mental, emotional and physical disease.

I have spent my whole life studying and teaching bodymind practices. I started with Judo in 1956 at the age of 11, and went on to study Karate, Aikido, Taijiquan, and Xingyiquan. I have been studying Qigong since 1969 and teaching since 1975. I became interested in meditation, and studied with Sogyal Rinpoche, Dhiravamsa, and Peter Fenner. I studied and experienced many forms of body-oriented psychotherapy, including Bioenergetics, Formative Psychology, Somatic Experiencing trauma therapy, and the Subtle Self work. I have studied a number of forms of bodywork, including Structural Massage and Cranio-sacral Therapy, and a variety of Western somatic practices: Bodymind Centering, Ideokinesis, and the Alexander Technique. In addition, I have studied the scientific bases of these systems, including anatomy, kinesiology, psycho-physiology, and neuroscience.

I do not claim mastery of all these systems! But I am thoroughly and practically familiar with them all. I am certified as a practitioner of Somatic Experiencing (SEP) and the Alexander Technique, I have been teaching Qigong for 43 years, and am a registered somatic movement educator and therapist (RSME/T). With my colleague Mardi Crane-Godreau, I have published several academic papers on these topics, and have conducted clinical trials at Dartmouth on the health effects of these practices.

I have found that all these different systems shed light from different angles on the same underlying reality. Working to reconcile and integrate apparently contradictory approaches has greatly increased my understanding, One of my biggest challenges has been to reconcile the scientific viewpoint with that of the traditional Asian methods. In published academic papers, we have demonstrated that modern neuroscience can provide a coherent framework for explaining the traditional Asian methods, enabling these to be integrated with Western therapeutics. We think this is important for two reasons.

First, the orthodox scientific community tends to reject the claims of the traditional Asian systems, because the Asian systems use terms like “chi” or “prana” (life energy), which are not acceptable to scientists.
Secondly, because Westerners trying to understand the traditional Asian systems often miss the mark and develop fantasies instead of a real understanding.
In this blog, I hope to present a practical and theoretical perspective which bridges these dualities.

The system of practice I now teach is called Bodymind Training. It integrates everything i have studied into a compact and simple package, which is easy to learn, can be practiced by anyone, and takes no time out of your busy schedule. We at Bodymind Science are making these teachings available in a number of formats, including innovative videos, multimedia, booklets, and audio files.

 

 

Mardi Crane-Godreau

Mardi Crane-Godreau

Mardi Crane-Godreau is a dynamic thought leader who has gathered like-minded scholars into collaborations, research and initiatives in fields ranging from immunology and somatic practices to climate science education and communications.  She has served as a guest editor at  Frontiers in Neuroscience and Frontiers in Public Health and has authored numerous high profile peer reviewed scientific publications.   Collaborations with Peter Payne have addressed theoretical issues involved in the scientific investigation of somatic practices including proposed language and conceptual frameworks for elucidating mechanisms of somatic approaches to improving health and general well-being.
Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr. Crane-Godreau and colleagues published a significant  peer reviewed manuscript relating to how vitamin D deficiency and air pollution exacerbate the illness through pertubation of a shared innate immune mechanism.
Interest in finding ways to use video and other digital media to educate and empower individuals and families with access to enjoyable and effective, evidence-based solutions to health challenges has led to development of three apps to improve somatic awareness and self-regulation in children, especially those with autistic spectrum disorder or children who have experienced trauma.  New projects under development involve climate and conservation associated educational outreach. 
Dr. Crane-Godreau received her PhD from Dartmouth College, where she was chosen by the school’s faculty to deliver the Class Day address for her graduating class. Formerly an assistant professor in the department of microbiology and immunology, she now works for Bodymind Science, LLC in Arlington, Vermont.  

 

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- COVID RELATED

by | May 28, 2020 | Mardi's Posts | 0 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                                     Update 6 June, 2020 Contact:                                                                     ...

Vitamin D: What’s all the fuss?

Vitamin D: What’s all the fuss?

by | May 26, 2020 | Mardi's Posts | 0 Comments

Mardi Crane-Godreau, PhD Over the last several months a number of peer reviewed papers have been published about the role that vitamin D is believed to play in reducing morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 viral infections.  As winter approaches in the...

Mirror Neurons?

by | Jan 9, 2019 | Blog without a Blogger | 0 Comments

Watching  positive, healthy  movement  engages 'mirror neurons',   producing more healthful states for body and mind. Maybe you have seen our Moving Meditations app, or watched one of our videos? Here is how they work. There are two things to understand:...

Movement as the language of emotion: Why Moving Meditations make sense.

by | Nov 5, 2018 | Mardi-Crane-Godreau, Mardi's Posts, Peter | 0 Comments

…The brain communicates on two main levels: the instinctive-emotional-movement level, and the rational-verbal level. Guess which level kids operate on, especially those with challenges? It should be no surprise that they operate on the instinctive-emotional-movement level. The language of the instinctive part of the brain is movement and sensation!

Moving Meditations

by | Nov 4, 2018 | Blog without a Blogger | 0 Comments

Our new App, Moving Meditations for Autism (available for Android and Apple devices), offers 18 short videos to help kids (and their families) find peace and balance. The videos are fun and engaging, and effortless to use—all you have to do is...