8 causes or aggravators of ALL symptoms and diseases

Every symptom or disease is caused or worsened by one or more of these factors:

• Inflammation
• Disturbances in mental functioning
• Excessive oxidative stress
• Poisoning
• Infections
• Deficiencies
• Genetics / Epigenetics
• Accidents / Fatalities / Unforeseen events

Did you know that? Had you noticed or thought about it?

Some may ask: “But, Dr. Icarus, what about the lifestyle that you always say is so important?” The answer is simple: a good lifestyle prevents diseases and can even treat and cure them, by acting on multiple of these points! A healthy lifestyle is fundamental.

This video looks at the 8 causes and shows the importance of each one, detailing how they negatively affect most symptoms and illnesses, as well as providing tips for addressing and resolving them where possible.

VIDEO COMPLEMENT:

The focus of this website is health promotion, but it's impossible not to talk a little about the symptoms and illnesses that affect those who don't give their health due importance. Most people seek to alleviate or eliminate existing health problems instead of avoiding them through prevention and a proper lifestyle.

I can briefly summarize the problems related to these 8 major causes in detail. It's important to know them because solving the right “causes” is the most useful and effective step we can take towards achieving, maintaining and improving real health:

Needs/Disabilities: Even the best machine in the world will malfunction if it doesn't have the materials available, either to make up its structure or to serve as fuel for its operation: a car doesn't work without gasoline, oils, fluids, and the lack of one of them ends up hindering the proper functioning of “the whole”, even if there is an abundance of the others, doesn't it? In the human body, the most perfect machine ever created, the same thing happens: the lack of just ONE substance prevents everything from working properly. For example, a lack of magnesium impairs more than 200 metabolic processes; a lack of vitamin D3 impairs the correct expression of thousands of genes, etc.

Inflammation: Inflammation is the body's natural response to injury, infection or irritation. However, when inflammation becomes chronic, it can contribute to the development of various diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Reducing inflammation through a healthy diet, exercise and stress management is key to maintaining good health.

Disorders in mental functioning: Mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and chronic stress can negatively affect the entire body. The emotional and mental state directly influences the immune system, cardiovascular health and even the ability to recover from illness. Taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health.

Excessive oxidative stress: Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the body's ability to neutralize them. Oxidative stress is associated with chronic diseases, accelerated ageing and cell damage. A diet rich in antioxidants, regular physical activity and stress reduction can help combat oxidative stress.

Poisoning: Exposure to environmental toxins, such as pollutants, pesticides, heavy metals and chemicals present in food, water and personal care products, can have a negative impact on health. These toxins can cause cell damage, inflammation and dysfunction in various organs. Reducing exposure to toxic substances and supporting the body's detoxification are important measures for maintaining good health.

Infections: According to Wikipedia: “Infection (Brazilian Portuguese) or infeção (European Portuguese) is the invasion of body tissues of a host organism by organisms capable of causing disease; the multiplication of these organisms; and the reaction of host tissues to these organisms and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease is any clinically evident illness that is the result of infection, the presence and multiplication of pathogenic biological agents in the host organism. Infections are caused by infectious agents such as viruses, viroids and prions, micro-organisms such as bacteria, nematodes, arthropods such as ticks, mites, fleas and lice, fungi and other macro-parasites”. In other words, everything that invades us and multiplies inside us, causing lesions, is infecting us, and believe me: this happens all the time, dozens of times a day. We don't get sick most of the time because a competent immune system usually kills off the invaders before they get too bad. Our repair systems also work silently, incessantly. It just so happens that all this takes up a lot of energy and resources, which are often lacking and have to be “diverted” from other important areas and processes in the body, leading to weaknesses and disorders.

Genetics/Epigenetics: For a long time, science made us believe sentences such as: “if you're a woman and there are several cases of breast cancer in your family, be careful, you might develop it too”; even a patient of mine once said (mistakenly) that he was convinced that cancer was a predominantly genetic disease, like Alzheimer's, various rheumatological diseases, etc. Nowadays, we know very well that “it's not like that”: our family genetic tendencies can increase our chances of developing something (whether it's a disease or a strong family trait, protective or resistant), but this is not usually more than 30%. In other words, someone who takes good care of themselves (especially their lifestyle) can go through life without cardiovascular disease, even if they come from a family where almost everyone has it; at the same time, someone who puts their health on the back burner could well be “the sickest person” in a family that is generally extremely healthy and long-lived. Why is this? Simple: DNA modification and epigenetics.

Let me explain a bit about genetics: the nucleus of each of our cells carries our DNA (between 20 and 25 thousand genes), which is a mixture of what we inherit from our parents, and it is this that contains our entire “cake recipe”: how we are “born to” be (structurally), function, strengths and weaknesses. When a skin cell needs to multiply, for example, it “opens” the DNA and “reads” the part of it that teaches it how to multiply; when a glandular cell needs to produce a hormone, it opens the SAME DNA, but reads another part, the one that corresponds to how to produce that hormone, and so on. In other words, more than the characteristics of your DNA, the key is how it is “read”, interpreted and its information executed.

We now know that our DNA is changing all the time, very subtly, according to factors such as those mentioned so far in this text, above all related to the environment we are exposed to and our lifestyle habits, but how and how much this happens is still an area of little common knowledge. What we do know is that THE SAME FACTORS above are capable of altering HOW (and how much) our genetic heritage (DNA) is read and “executed” at any given moment - this is called epigenetics: when and how often a gene will be read or ignored. Some examples:

• People with several cases of Alzheimer's in close family members, carriers of the genes most commonly related to the disease and who don't take good care of their health: greater chances of developing the disease and in an earlier and more aggressive way, with a faster progression;

• A person like the one above, but who takes good care of their health, will possibly never develop the disease or, if they do, it will be mild and with a better prognosis and/or better response to treatment and control (even a cure);

• If you come from a family with no history of illness and take good care of your health: you're likely to live long and well!

• The same individual as above, BUT who takes poor care of his health: he will develop various diseases and possibly pass on the “new trends” he has acquired through his bad lifestyle, via genetics, to new generations.

Got it? Genetics is a tendency, not a sentence.

Accidents/Fatalities/Improvements: Of course, we are all subject to unforeseen, “unintentional” situations: traffic accidents, falls, burns, excessive exposure to some aggressive factor (very intoxicating smoke, radiation), insect or animal bites, etc. In these cases, if the event is not too serious, those who take good care of their health tend to suffer less, suffer fewer injuries and recover better. On the other hand, for those whose bodies are already weakened, accidents can have more serious consequences.

Inadequate treatment of the “unexpected” is also a factor to be considered: iatrogenesis is the “state of illness, adverse effects or complications caused by or resulting from medical treatment”, but unfortunately this aspect is largely out of the patient's control.

However, we need to seriously reflect on whether we are REALLY PREVENTING these unforeseen events, doing our part correctly (or whether these accidents are not so accidental):

• Are we really paying attention in traffic or fiddling with our cell phones?
• Do we always use personal protective equipment in situations where the law suggests it?
• Has stress impaired our judgment in decision-making situations?
• Do we carry out potentially risky tasks with due attention?
• Do we put ourselves in danger without really needing to?