The Inverse Relationship Between Glucose and Chloride

The 1934 paper The Effect of Insulin on the Glucose-Chloride Relationship and Anhydremia in the Blood of Rabbits noted scientist W.W. Herrick's findings published in the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine in the 1920s: "Herrick, studying the simultaneous determinations of blood reducing substance and whole blood chlorides in patients undergoing the glucose tolerance test, discovered an inverse relationship between glucose and chlorides in the blood. When the glucose concentration of the blood rose, the blood chlorides fell in such proportion as to indicate a possible direct reciprocal relationship. Herrick suggests that this shifting of the chlorides is necessary in order to preserve optimal osmotic conditions in the blood." This same paper also cited the 1926 study published by T.G. Ni in the American Journal of Physiology On the Inverse Change Between the Concentration of Glucose and Chloride in the Blood: "Ni, working with dogs and using histamine injections to produce a fall in the amount of blood chlorides, observed a similar relationship between glucose and chlorides. Furthermore, he discovered that, after complete pancreatectomy, the subsequent hyperglycemia was accompanied by a marked lowering of the blood chlorides. This rise and fall in the concentration of the blood chlorides, Ni claims, is directly related to the sugar fluctuations and is part of a mechanism working toward maintained osmotic equilibrium."

The finding that histamine injections produces a fall in blood chlorides is also of interest to me. One of the papers I've come across called Histamine 1 Receptor Blockade Enhances Eosinophil-Mediated Clearance of Adult Filarial Worms states: "These findings suggest that histamine release induced by parasitic worms may aid parasite survival by decreasing eosinophilic responses." If the release of histamine does correlate to lower chloride per Ni, that would also be an added bonus for a parasite.

Speaking of parasites, according to MedicineNet.com: "Ivermectin binds to the parasite's nerve and muscle cell membranes and increases their permeability to chloride ions, leading to the paralysis and death of the parasites." Another paper I've mentioned on this blog is the 2015 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is Associated with Strongyloides stercoralis Treatment Failure in Australian Aboriginals that said: "Ivermectin has been confirmed as an effective treatment for S. stercoralis infection in this setting. T2DM appears to be an independent risk factor for treatment failure in this population." Diabetes in general is very much associated with treatment failure and "not making it." So pardon me if I seem like a fixated Rick Moranis in Honey I Shrunk the Kids ("Szalinski, give it a rest, it's Saturday!"), but I would rather not see others in my predicament. 

In recent years, much research has emerged that parasites are more common than ever believed in the developed world. Using Demodex as an example, we are really just now becoming acquainted with what these microscopic parasites are. Much of the developed world population has had a poor diet throughout their entire lifetime and are pre-diabetic or diabetic- and due to this, immune suppression has led to parasitic overgrowth in the form of acne, rosacea, hair loss, blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction, which is present in 86% of dry eye disease, and chronic allergies. I've explored the link between allergic inflammation and parasites, and found it has been established for several decades now. Last year, I came across a 1993 article in Discover magazine called "Of Parasites and Pollens." An article I printed out earlier this year was written in 2006: Ghost Parasites and Severely Congested Sinuses. It was speaking of researchers at John Hopkins newly discovering that the gene for the anti-parasitic enzyme acidic mammalian chitinase is up to 250 times more active in people with severe sinus inflammation that persists even after surgery. "The finding does not mean that there are actually parasites in the nose causing sinusitis, but our study does lend support to the concept that really severe and persistent sinusitis may be a case of misplaced immune response directed against parasites that are not really there," said lead author Andrew Lane, MD. What if the immune response isn't misplaced at all in our incredibly intelligent bodies? What if we just hadn't found the parasite or even really looked? Almost a decade later, the paper Relationship Between Demodex Folliculorum and Allergic Rhinitis in Adults was released. There's now also The Incidence of Demodex Folliculorum in the Combination of Allergic Rhinitis and Diabetes Mellitus, released in 2019, and 2018's Demodex Folliculorum in Nasal Discharge: A Case Report of Yet Unknown Significance. Chronic strongyloidiasis- Don't look and you won't find is a 2016 article I printed from Australian Family Physician.

Adding to this new research, the Retzinger MD team started releasing their Acari Hypothesis papers in 2020. In the latest 2022 Acari Hypothesis III, the authors state, "Despite significant understanding of the cellular effectors and the cytokine pathways involved in atopic dermatitis, the pathogenesis of the condition remains poorly understood." That could be said about all allergies. 

The last I’ll say about this: It’s been established in recent literature that meibomian gland dysfunction seen in dry eye and ocular rosacea is caused by Demodex mites, particularly the hidden, very small Demodex brevis. Effectively eliminating mite infestation in the eyes may be faster accomplished with a topical drop or procedure than with an oral pill in the diabetic population, but at a steep price. In the U.S., we promote $1000 a session Lipiflow, a $2000 Lumenis IPL procedure, and $500 a session iLux for meibomian gland dysfunction relief, and while these procedures do actually get hot enough to unclog obstructed glands, they will likely have to be repeated annually if sugar/poor diet consumption continues and the mites have their optimal environment to proliferate. I’m curious to see if Tarsus TP03, an anti-parasitic eye drop with an active ingredient already long used in veterinary medicine, will hit the market, and at what cost if so. It directly markets itself as anti-Demodex and I wonder what it’s future will be with the treatment of MGD/dry eye/blepharitis/ocular rosacea and if it would be used sporadically after mite eradication as a preventative. Azura Ophthalmics is also in trials for their AZR-MD-001 .5% ointment for MGD. The ointment is composed of selenium sulfide, the well-known ingredient in Selsun Blue and Head and Shoulders Clinical Strength shampoo. I came across a study earlier this year discussing selenium sulfide's ability to kill demodex. It was only demodicidal at 4% concentration, which is a higher concentration than any shampoo sold in this country. See 2022's Evaluation of a novel treatment, selenium sulfide, in killing Demodex folliculorum in vitro. Studies are emerging that the dandruff industry is only treating the Malassezia yeast produced by demodex mites, while not killing the mites themselves. See 2012's Demodex mites and Malassezia yeast at patients with seborrheic dermatitis.

The fact that sugar and junk carbohydrate diets are a real life-stealing villain should be broadcast in every home, but unfortunately it’s absolutely not. Did paratroopers come down during a recent viral epidemic and remove every Oreo box off the shelves? Diabetes was widely known to be a prominent risk factor in becoming severely infected. Quite the opposite. Diabetes and weight gain increased. A Health magazine article headline read: "COVID Weight Gain is Totally Normal." In the article, they write that "One survey showed that 47% of U.S. adults have eaten more food during the pandemic than they otherwise usually would...As for exercise, a 2021 study published in BMC Public Health concluded that levels of physical activity were significantly lower during social distancing than they were before the pandemic...Over 40% of people gained more weight than they intended, and of this group, the average weight gain was 29 pounds."

I'm not much at all for war stories, but I saw the movie Rescue Dawn quite some time ago, and Christian Bale portraying German-born American Vietnam pilot Dieter Dengler stuck with me. I was thinking about this film a lot for whatever reason recently so I rented it on Prime. He arrives at the prisoner of war camp where a few other soldiers had been living, extremely tortured, for years. After seeing how insane they had become and the nightmare of their living situation he says, "Well my friends, you can rot in here if you like, but I'm gonna scram this very night." It didn't prove so easy, to say the least, but he eventually did get out. The part that led me to tears in the movie was when Duane, one of the prisoners, starts crying after the prison camp guards open fire inside the shed they are all shackled in as a scare tactic. "I can't take it. I can't take it anymore," he cries. I felt the absolute rock bottom emptiness that he emulated in that moment. Diabetes will take you there. I watched this movie shortly after writing my post Hurry. It's hard to put into words the internal despair I was experiencing at the time I wrote that. Dieter assures Duane that he is a true friend, and he won't lie to him or let him down, that they will get out. I hope that anyone who reads this blog sees me as a true friend who is only trying to help them - I want to get out of this diabetes epidemic together. 

Mercy, will we overcome this?

Oh, one by one, could we turn it around?