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Category: Health

  • Gum Disease Bacterium Linked to Increased Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

    Gum Disease Bacterium Linked to Increased Risk of Atrial Fibrillation


    Between 2010 and 2019, the number of people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) rose from 33.5 million to nearly 60 million.1 AFib is a type of cardiac arrhythmia that affects the upper chambers of the heart, disrupting the normal heartbeat and increasing the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular complications.2

    Age, high blood pressure, and metabolic issues are well-known risk factors, but the steady rise in cases suggests that traditional risk models could be missing an important piece of the puzzle. One such piece lies well outside the boundaries of the heart itself — specifically, in the mouth.

    A recent study published in the journal Circulation found a direct connection between periodontal infection and atrial fibrillation, implicating oral bacteria in the development of cardiac fibrosis and electrical dysfunction. This raises pressing questions about how a routine dental checkup might influence your cardiovascular health.3

    How Gum Disease Triggers AFib and What the Science Now Shows

    For years, doctors have noticed that people with gum disease seem more likely to develop heart problems, including AFib. While the link was often attributed to general inflammation, the exact mechanism remained unclear.

    This led researchers at Hiroshima University to trace the path of infection from the gums to the heart and test whether Porphyromonas gingivalis, a key bacterium in gum disease, directly contributes to the structural and electrical changes seen in AFib.4

    • Oral bacteria reached and embedded in heart tissue — To find out how P. gingivalis affects the heart, the team studied what happened after it entered the bloodstream. In mice with long-term gum infections, they found the bacterium embedded in the tissue of the left atrium, a part of the heart involved in controlling rhythm.

    In comparison, the uninfected mice showed no signs of tooth damage and no detectable traces of the bacterium in their heart tissue. This discovery provided concrete evidence that oral pathogens don’t just circulate — they lodge in cardiac tissue and alter its function.

    • Bacterial infection triggered scarring and electrical disruption — The heart tissue where P. gingivalis was found became fibrotic, meaning it had started to stiffen with scar-like material. This kind of scarring disrupts how electrical signals move through the heart and is a known risk factor for AFib. Previous research has shown that galectin-3 and TGF-beta1, which are both well-known drivers of scarring, were significantly elevated in the P. gingivalis group.5

    • Damage worsened with continued exposure — The findings showed that the longer the bacteria remained, the more pronounced the damage became. By week 18, mice with P. gingivalis had developed 21.9% fibrosis in their left atria, compared to 16.3% in uninfected mice, an increase that couldn’t be explained by aging alone. The bacteria appeared to be directly accelerating structural damage inside the heart.

    • Bacterial exposure made the heart more prone to misfire — Using a technique called intracardiac stimulation, researchers tested how easily each heart could be pushed into AFib. Early in the study, both groups responded similarly. But by the end, the mice exposed to P. gingivalis were six times more likely to slip into arrhythmia, which means bacteria actively made their heart more unstable.

    • Human heart tissue confirmed the pattern — The researchers also examined heart tissue from 68 patients undergoing surgery for atrial fibrillation. Before surgery, each patient had a dental exam to assess gum inflammation and periodontal disease severity. What they found mirrored the animal results — P. gingivalis was present in the hearts of many patients, especially those with more advanced gum disease.

    • More gum disease meant more bacteria and more damage — The study revealed a step-by-step connection: periodontal inflammation increased bacterial load in the atrial tissue, and higher bacterial load led to more damage. This was the first time that the link had been clearly demonstrated in both animal models and human hearts.

    • A new pathway to AFib, bypassing traditional risk factors — Shunsuke Miyauchi, the study’s lead author and assistant professor at Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, explained:

    “P. gingivalis invades the circulatory system via the periodontal lesions and further translocates to the left atrium, where its bacterial load correlates with the clinical severity of periodontitis.

    Once in the atrium, it exacerbates atrial fibrosis, which results in higher AFib inducibility. Therefore, periodontal treatment, which can block the gateway of P. gingivalis translocation, may play an important role in AFib prevention and treatment.”6

    Large-Scale Data Confirms That Chronic Gum Disease Raises AFib Risk

    While the Circulation study demonstrated how specific oral bacteria infiltrate the heart and directly alter its structure, broader population-level research offers additional perspective. A large-scale epidemiological study from South Korea followed over 1.2 million adults for 14 years to explore whether changes in gum disease status affect the risk of developing AFib.7

    • The worse the gum health, the higher the AFib risk — Of the 1.25 million individuals tracked, 25,402 developed AFib during the study period. Those with chronic gum disease had a 4% higher risk, followed by a 3% increase in those who developed it later during the study. People who recovered had a 3% lower risk than those with persistent disease, and those who never had gum disease had the lowest risk overall.

    • Lifestyle factors influenced outcomes but did not fully explain them — People with chronic periodontal disease were more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, and have other health complications such as hypertension and metabolic disorders. While these patterns contributed to some of the risk, the association between gum disease and AFib persisted even after adjusting for all lifestyle and clinical variables.

    • Reversing gum disease makes a big difference — People who healed from gum disease had about the same risk of developing AFib as those who never had gum disease at all. This suggests that reversing gum inflammation may restore cardiovascular stability, highlighting the importance of treating gum disease before it becomes chronic or leads to irreversible tissue damage that continues to influence systemic risk.

    • Oral hygiene may offer a viable form of cardiac prevention — The authors note that recovery from gum disease through professional scaling or consistent hygiene practices lowers systemic inflammation and bacterial load. Previous trials have shown that periodontal treatment reduces inflammatory biomarkers, suggesting a direct therapeutic avenue for AFib risk reduction.

    For more information on how gum disease harms your heart and overall health, read “Poor Oral Health Wreaks Havoc on Your Heart and Brain.”

    Protecting Your Oral Health Early Is the Best Strategy

    Gum disease often progresses silently, with few visible symptoms until it reaches more advanced stages.8 According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly half (42%) of adults aged 30 and older show signs of gum disease, and 9% have a severe form of the condition.9

    • Establish consistent oral hygiene habits — Protecting your heart and reducing systemic inflammation starts with your mouth. Prioritize regular brushing, flossing with chemical-free dental floss, tongue scraping, and professional cleanings from a mercury-free biological dentist. These habits are essential for maintaining healthy gums and preventing long-term disease.

    • Try oil pulling with coconut oil — Coconut oil offers antibacterial and antiviral benefits that make it ideal for oil pulling. Studies show that this practice reduces plaque and gingivitis, lowers plaque index scores, and decreases bacterial colony counts in saliva.10 To learn more, read “Why Is Oil Pulling Suddenly All the Rage?”

    • Focus on a nutrient-dense, whole-food diet — A diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and high-fiber whole foods supports your oral microbiome and strengthens your immune defenses. Refined sugar and processed foods, on the other hand, fuel harmful bacteria that cause plaque buildup, decay, and gum disease.

    • Address sleep and stress to support immune resilience — Chronic stress and inadequate sleep weaken your immune system, making it harder for your body to fight off oral infections. If you’re dealing with recurring gum issues or inflammation, take a close look at your sleep quality and stress load as part of your prevention plan.

    • Quit vaping and smoking — Whether it’s from cigarettes or e-cigarettes, every puff introduces compounds that inflame tissue, impair blood flow, and accelerate gum destruction, including nicotine, artificial flavorings, and chemical aerosols.11 The only way to fully protect yourself from the damage is to quit completely.

    If quitting immediately feels overwhelming, start by gradually cutting back on how often you smoke. Replace the habit with constructive activities or restorative practices. Tools like the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) also help manage cravings and emotional stress during the quitting process.

    • Schedule regular dental cleanings and evaluations — Even with consistent brushing and flossing, plaque and tartar still accumulate in areas that are difficult to reach. Professional cleanings help remove hardened buildup that contributes to gum inflammation and periodontal disease.

    Regular evaluations also allow early detection of gum recession, pocket formation, or other signs of gum degeneration that may go unnoticed at home.

    For more comprehensive care, consider working with a biological dentist. This holistic approach to oral health takes into account how your gum health influences your entire body, not just your teeth. To find a biological dentist near you, explore the directories linked below:

    ◦Consumers for Dental Choice

    ◦Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions (DAMS) — Email them here or call 651-644-4572 for an information packet

    ◦Huggins Applied Healing

    ◦International Academy of Biological Dentistry & Medicine (IABDM)

    ◦International Association of Mercury Safe Dentists

    ◦Talk International

    Small, daily actions compound over time, and taking your oral health seriously is one of the most effective ways to support your overall well-being. For more insight into how your habits shape oral microbiome health, see “Your Lifestyle Plays a Role in Your Oral Microbiome Composition.”

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Gum Disease and AFib

    Q: What is the link between gum disease and AFib?

    A: Research shows that chronic gum disease, especially when caused by bacteria like Porphyromonas gingivalis, increases your risk of heart problems. These bacteria travel through the bloodstream, settle in heart tissue, and trigger inflammation and scarring that disrupt normal heart rhythm, raising the risk of atrial fibrillation.

    Q: Does treating gum disease lower your risk of AFib?

    A: Yes. A large South Korean study of over 1.25 million people found that those who recovered from gum disease had a lower risk of developing AFib compared to those with ongoing periodontal inflammation. In fact, their risk was nearly identical to people who never had gum disease.

    Q: How common is gum disease and who is most at risk?

    A: According to the CDC, about 42% of U.S. adults aged 30 and older have some form of gum disease, and 9% have severe periodontitis. Risk increases with age, poor oral hygiene, smoking, stress, and chronic illnesses like diabetes.

    Q: Can gum disease affect other parts of the body besides the heart?

    A: Yes. Gum disease has been linked to a wide range of systemic conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. The same bacteria and inflammatory signals that damage oral tissue can travel through the bloodstream and trigger immune responses in distant organs, making oral health a key part of overall wellness.

    Q: What lifestyle habits can protect against both gum disease and AFib?

    A: A few key habits include avoiding smoking and vaping, eating a nutrient-dense diet, managing stress, getting quality sleep, and maintaining consistent oral hygiene. These steps support immune function and help control inflammation throughout the body, including the gums and the heart.

  • How Post-Quantum Cryptography Affects Security and Encryption Algorithms

    How Post-Quantum Cryptography Affects Security and Encryption Algorithms


    The advent of quantum computing represents a fundamental shift in computational capabilities that threatens the cryptographic foundation of modern digital security. As quantum computers evolve from theoretical concepts to practical reality, they pose an existential threat to the encryption algorithms that protect everything from personal communications to national security secrets. Post-quantum cryptography is changing cybersecurity, exposing new weaknesses, and demanding swift action to keep data safe.

    The quantum threat is not merely theoretical; experts estimate that cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQCs) capable of breaking current encryption may emerge within the next 5-15 years. This timeline has sparked the “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” (HNDL) strategy, where threat actors collect encrypted data today with the intention of decrypting it once quantum capabilities mature. The urgency of this transition cannot be overstated, as government mandates and industry requirements are accelerating the timeline for post-quantum adoption across all sectors. The US government has established clear requirements through NIST guidelines, with key milestones including deprecation of 112-bit security algorithms by 2030 and mandatory transition to quantum-resistant systems by 2035. The UK has similarly established a roadmap requiring organizations to complete discovery phases by 2028, high-priority migrations by 2031, and full transitions by 2035.

    The Quantum Threat Landscape

    Understanding Quantum Computing Vulnerabilities

    Quantum computers operate on fundamentally different principles than classical computers, utilizing quantum mechanics properties like superposition and entanglement to achieve unprecedented computational power. The primary threats to current cryptographic systems come from two key quantum algorithms: Shor’s algorithm, which can efficiently factor large integers and solve discrete logarithm problems, and Grover’s algorithm, which provides quadratic speedup for brute-force attacks against symmetric encryption.

    Current widely-used public-key cryptographic systems including RSA, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), and Diffie-Hellman key exchange are particularly vulnerable to quantum attacks. While symmetric cryptography like AES remains relatively secure with increased key sizes, the asymmetric encryption that forms the backbone of modern secure communications faces an existential threat.

    Impact on Cryptographic Security Levels

    The quantum threat manifests differently across various cryptographic systems. Current expert estimates place the timeline for cryptographically relevant quantum computers at approximately 2030, with some predictions suggesting breakthrough capabilities could emerge as early as 2028. This timeline has prompted a fundamental reassessment of cryptographic security levels:

     

    Algorithm Based On Classical Time (e.g., 2048 bits) Quantum Time (Future)
    RSA Integer Factorization ~10²⁰ years (secure) ~1 day (with 4,000 logical qubits)
    DH Discrete Log ~10²⁰ years ~1 day
    ECC Elliptic Curve Log ~10⁸ years (for 256-bit curve) ~1 hour

     

    *Note: These estimates refer to logical qubits; each logical qubit requires hundreds to thousands of physical qubits due to quantum error correction.

    Current Security Protocols Under Threat

    Transport Layer Security (TLS)

    TLS protocols face significant quantum vulnerabilities in both key exchange and authentication mechanisms. Current TLS implementations rely heavily on elliptic curve cryptography for key establishment and RSA/ECDSA for digital signatures, both of which are susceptible to quantum attacks. The transition to post-quantum TLS involves implementing hybrid approaches that combine traditional algorithms with quantum-resistant alternatives like ML-KEM (formerly CRYSTALS-Kyber).

    Performance implications are substantial, with research showing that quantum-resistant TLS implementations demonstrate varying levels of overhead depending on the algorithms used and network conditions. Amazon’s comprehensive study reveals that post-quantum TLS 1.3 implementations show time-to-last-byte increases staying below 5% for high-bandwidth, stable networks, while slower networks see impacts ranging from 32% increase in handshake time to under 15% increase when transferring 50KiB of data or more.

    Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

    Quantum computers can use Grover’s algorithm to speed up brute-force attacks against symmetric encryption. Grover’s algorithm provides a quadratic speedup, reducing attack time from 2ⁿ to roughly √(2ⁿ) = 2^(n/2).

     

    AES Key Size Grover’s Effective Attack Effective Key Strength
    AES-128 ~2⁶⁴ operations Equivalent to 64-bit key
    AES-256 ~2¹²⁸ operations Equivalent to 128-bit key

     

    The practical implication is that quantum computers effectively halve the security strength of symmetric encryption algorithms.

    IPSec and VPN Technologies

    IPSec protocols require comprehensive quantum-resistant upgrades across multiple components. Key exchange protocols like IKEv2 must implement post-quantum key encapsulation mechanisms, while authentication systems need quantum-resistant digital signatures.

    Cisco Secure Key Integration Protocol (SKIP) represents a significant advancement in quantum-safe VPN technology. SKIP is an HTTPS-based protocol that allows encryption devices to securely import post-quantum pre-shared keys (PPKs) from external key sources. This protocol enables organizations to achieve quantum resistance without requiring extensive firmware upgrades, providing a practical bridge to full post-quantum implementations.

    Cisco Secure Key Integration Protocol (SKIP)

    SKIP uses TLS 1.2 with Pre-Shared Key – Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral (PSK-DHE) cipher suite, making the protocol quantum-safe. The system allows operators to leverage existing Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) or Media Access Control Security (MACsec) while integrating post-quantum external sources such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), pre-shared keys, or other quantum-secure methods. Cisco supports SKIP in IOS-XE.

    Vulnerable Cryptographic Algorithms

    RSA Encryption

    RSA security relies on the difficulty of factoring large semiprime integers (products of two large primes). It is widely used for secure web communication, digital signatures, and email encryption. Asymmetric key exchange systems face significant risk from future quantum threats, as a quantum computer with sufficient quantum bits, along with improvements in stability and performance, could break large prime number factorization. This vulnerability could render RSA-based cryptographic systems insecure within the next decade.

    Diffie-Hellman (DH) / DSA / ElGamal

    These algorithms are based on the hardness of the discrete logarithm problem in finite fields using modular arithmetic. They are used in key exchange (DH), digital signatures (DSA), and encryption (ElGamal). Shor’s algorithm can break discrete logarithm problems as efficiently as integer factorization. Current estimates suggest that DH-2048 or DSA-2048 could be broken in hours or days on a large quantum computer using approximately 4,000 logical qubits.

    Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards

    NIST Standardization Process

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized three initial post-quantum cryptography standards:

    FIPS 203 (ML-KEM): Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism, derived from CRYSTALS-Kyber, serving as the primary standard for general encryption. ML-KEM defines three parameter sets:

    • ML-KEM-512: Provides baseline security with encapsulation keys of 800 bytes, decapsulation keys of 1,632 bytes, and ciphertexts of 768 bytes
    • ML-KEM-768: Enhanced security with encapsulation keys of 1,184 bytes, decapsulation keys of 2,400 bytes, and ciphertexts of 1,088 bytes
    • ML-KEM-1024: Highest security level with proportionally larger key sizes

    FIPS 204 (ML-DSA): Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm, derived from CRYSTALS-Dilithium, intended as the primary digital signature standard. Performance evaluations show ML-DSA as one of the most efficient post-quantum signature algorithms for various applications.

    FIPS 205 (SLH-DSA): Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Algorithm, derived from SPHINCS+, providing a backup signature method based on different mathematical foundations. While SLH-DSA offers strong security guarantees, it typically involves larger signature sizes and higher computational costs compared to lattice-based alternatives.

    Implementation Challenges and Considerations

    The transition to post-quantum cryptography presents several significant challenges:

    Performance Overhead: Post-quantum algorithms typically require more computational resources than classical cryptographic methods. Embedded systems face particular constraints in terms of computing power, energy consumption, and memory usage. Research indicates that while some PQC algorithms can be more energy-efficient than traditional methods in specific scenarios, the overall impact varies significantly based on implementation and use case.

    Key Size Implications: Many post-quantum algorithms require significantly larger key sizes compared to traditional public-key algorithms. For example, code-based KEMs like Classic McEliece have public keys that are several hundred kilobytes in size, substantially larger than RSA or ECC public keys. These larger key sizes increase bandwidth requirements and storage needs, particularly challenging for resource-constrained devices.

    Integration Complexity: Implementing post-quantum cryptography requires careful integration with existing security protocols. Many organizations will need to operate in hybrid cryptographic environments, where quantum-resistant solutions are integrated alongside classical encryption methods during the transition period.

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  • Fluffy Almond Flour Muffins (5 Ways)

    Fluffy Almond Flour Muffins (5 Ways)


    Tired of eggs for breakfast? You don’t have to resort to highly processed baked goods to have a yummy treat in the morning. These almond flour muffins are a delicious option for breakfast, snacks, or dessert. Plus, you can add your favorite mix-ins for a customizable muffin.

    Most of the time I have eggs, fermented veggies, and even fish for breakfast. While my breakfast choices are a little unconventional at times, I stick with high protein options. Healthy fats for blood sugar regulation are a must too.

    Almond Flour Muffins

    Not all of my kids are on board with sardines for breakfast, so they prefer to throw in some gluten-free muffins too. We’ve made plenty of coconut flour muffins over the years. These almond flour muffins are also grain-free, paleo, refined sugar-free, and dairy-free.

    You can make them low-carb and keto-friendly if you omit the arrowroot powder and coconut sugar. Swap out the bananas for yogurt if you’re looking for keto muffins.

    Use either blanched almond flour or almond meal, depending on what you have. I really like adding the arrowroot powder to give these a texture similar to regular wheat flour muffins. Even better, they can be customized to create all sorts of flavors. Check out the list of optional flavors below the recipe for some ideas! Our favorite so far are the carrot cake almond flour muffins.

    I don’t like my baked goods really sweet, so this recipe is mildly sweet. If you prefer your muffins sweeter, then taste and adjust the sweetener in the batter as necessary.

    almond flour muffins

    Fluffy Almond Flour Muffin Recipe

    These delicious muffins can be customized with your favorite ingredients. Great as a snack, dessert, or even a quick breakfast!

    • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-count muffin pan with silicone muffin liners, parchment paper liners, or grease lightly with coconut oil.

    • In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

    • In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, mashed banana, coconut sugar, melted butter or oil, milk, and vanilla. Add lemon juice or ACV here if using.

    • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Fold in any add-ins (berries, chocolate, nuts, etc.).

    • Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. They should be lightly golden brown.

    • Let cool in the pan for 5–10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. They’re extra good warm with a smear of grass-fed butter

    Nutrition Facts

    Fluffy Almond Flour Muffin Recipe

    Amount Per Serving (1 muffin)

    Calories 229
    Calories from Fat 153

    % Daily Value*

    Fat 17g26%

    Saturated Fat 5g31%

    Trans Fat 0.004g

    Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g

    Monounsaturated Fat 1g

    Cholesterol 42mg14%

    Sodium 168mg7%

    Potassium 115mg3%

    Carbohydrates 15g5%

    Fiber 3g13%

    Sugar 6g7%

    Protein 7g14%

    Vitamin A 83IU2%

    Vitamin C 2mg2%

    Calcium 75mg8%

    Iron 1mg6%

    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    • Freezer Tip: Let muffins cool completely, then store in an airtight container or reusable bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the toaster oven or oven for a quick snack.
    • You can also use lemon juice instead of ACV if desired.

    Almond Flour Muffin Variations

    You can add whatever mix-ins you like to the base muffin recipe above. Try dried or fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, or shredded coconut. Here are some more ideas for different flavors:

    1. Chocolate Almond Flour Muffins

    Add to the base recipe:

    • Replace cinnamon with 2–3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
    • Use ½ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
    • Add 1–2 TBSP maple syrup if you like them sweeter

    Tip: Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top before baking for that bakery-style look.

    2. Carrot Cake Muffins

    Add to the base recipe:

    • Add ¾ cup finely grated carrots
    • Add ¼ cup raisins (optional)
    • Add ½ tsp nutmeg + ½ tsp ginger
    • Swap bananas for 1/3 cup applesauce for a smoother texture
    • Stir in ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

    3. Savory Cheddar & Herb Muffins

    Remove: coconut sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and banana
    Add:

    • ¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
    • 2 TBSP chopped fresh chives or green onions
    • ½ tsp garlic powder
    • Optional: pinch of red pepper flakes or cooked, crumbled bacon

    Tip: Great served warm with soups, or as a breakfast sandwich base!

    4. Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins

    Add:

    • Lemon zest from 1 lemon + 1 TBSP lemon juice
    • ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries (toss in almond flour before adding to batter)
    • Optional: drizzle a simple lemon glaze after baking with lemon juice + powdered coconut sugar

    5. Zucchini Almond Flour Banana Muffins

    Add:

    • ½ cup grated zucchini (squeeze out moisture first)
    • Stick to bananas as your sweetener
    • Add a dash of cinnamon + nutmeg
    • Optional: ¼ cup chopped walnuts or mini chocolate chips

    Healthy Muffin Recipes

    Want some more healthy muffin ideas? These healthy recipes are a hit in our house! Most of them are made with coconut flour, and they’re all refined sugar free.

    What are your favorite muffin flavors? Leave a comment and let us know

  • Unique Protein Provides Clues on How to Extend Lifespan Through Diet

    Unique Protein Provides Clues on How to Extend Lifespan Through Diet


    A single protein, klotho, extended the lifespan of healthy mice by 20% in a study from Molecular Therapy.1 In addition to longer life, these mice also moved better, thought faster and resisted age-related breakdown in muscles, bones, and brain function. Aging brings more than wrinkles. It weakens bones, shrinks muscle, blunts cognition and raises your risk of disease. Klotho works differently than any single drug or supplement.

    It doesn’t just address one symptom; it improves how your body handles stress, repairs damage, and maintains organ function across multiple systems. As your klotho levels drop with age, your ability to regenerate tissues declines, your inflammation rises and your risk for conditions like osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and frailty climbs.

    Klotho is a protein your kidneys and brain naturally produce, but only if you’re living in a way that supports that internal machinery. The good news? Your habits — what you eat, how you move, how well you sleep and even how connected you feel to others — all influence your body’s klotho production.

    Researchers are calling klotho a “longevity switch,” and one of the most promising ways to measure how well your lifestyle is working. To understand why this matters so much for your long-term health, and what it looks like in practice, let’s break down the latest findings from the gene therapy experiment that helped klotho-deficient animals move, think and live like younger ones.

    A Single Injection Extended Lifespan and Rewired Aging from the Inside Out

    The Molecular Therapy study tested whether long-term exposure to a specific form of the klotho protein, known as secreted klotho, or s-Klotho, could slow down the aging process in healthy mice.2 Scientists used a specialized virus to deliver the gene that makes s-Klotho directly into the animals’ bloodstream and brain. Unlike many antiaging strategies that target one system, this method aimed to affect multiple organs at once.

    • Mice with boosted klotho lived longer and aged better — Treated animals lived longer than untreated mice, but longevity wasn’t the only improvement.3 They also showed fewer signs of age-related decline. Their muscles stayed stronger, their bones remained denser and their brains showed more activity related to regeneration and memory. This suggests klotho extends quality of life, which is what matters most.

    • Muscle strength and bone health improved — In strength tests like grip performance and bar hanging, klotho-treated mice performed better, especially when treated during adulthood rather than earlier life. Muscle tissue under the microscope revealed larger fibers and far less scar tissue. After simulated injury, their muscles rebuilt more like those of younger mice.

    Bone health improved too. Males who received treatment at middle age had thicker, denser bone structure and smaller gaps in their spongy bone. Females, on the other hand, benefited more when treated earlier, before bone degeneration was advanced. Gene expression testing confirmed more activity in the genes that form strong, mineral-rich bone.

    • Brain resilience increased through stem cell activity and immune cleanup — Klotho helped regenerate brain tissue by increasing the number of maturing neurons and maintaining supportive cells called astrocytes. The treated mice also showed more brain immune cells responsible for removing damaged proteins and debris. These were not inflamed cells but highly functional ones, associated with better memory and less age-related inflammation.

    • Muscle and brain benefits were linked to reduced inflammation and better cell signaling — Klotho blocked specific age-related pathways known to cause tissue scarring and interfere with stem cell repair. In muscles, it preserved mitochondrial function and kept stem cells capable of rebuilding tissue. In the brain, it promoted neurogenesis — your brain’s ability to grow new neurons — and kept immune cells working efficiently.

    • Klotho’s effects showed up in gene expression tied to longevity — Animals that received treatment showed higher expression of genes that build collagen in bone and drive bone formation. They also had lower levels of a gene that typically rises with aging and contributes to poor bone mineralization. In the brain, there was an upregulation of repair pathways and immune functions that target malfunctioning cells.

    Your Daily Habits Control Your Body’s Antiaging Switch

    A comprehensive review published in Metabolites explored how everyday choices, like how you eat, sleep, move, and manage stress, directly influence your body’s production of klotho.4 The paper proposed using klotho levels as a real-time biomarker to track whether your lifestyle is truly improving your long-term healthspan.

    • Klotho tracks with overall well-being, not just disease — Most medical markers only flag disease after it’s already taken hold. But klotho is different; rather than being a disease marker, it’s a health marker. Your levels rise with good habits and fall with harmful ones, making it one of the few tools that could give you feedback on whether your habits are actually helping you age well.

    • Moderate, consistent exercise is one of the best ways to raise klotho — Even light daily movement significantly boosted klotho levels, while extreme workouts or stressful conditions — like military training in high heat — lowered them. A 12-trial meta-analysis confirmed that aerobic and resistance training both worked, but overtraining reversed the benefits.

    • A healthy diet is directly tied to higher klotho expression — Diets rich in fruits, vegetables, fermented foods, and antioxidants — like vitamin A, C, E, zinc, and selenium — were consistently linked to higher klotho levels.

    The Mediterranean-style diet, with a focus on minimally processed foods, stood out in large-scale data, while low-carb diets didn’t help and sometimes made things worse. Vitamin D and curcumin (from turmeric) also triggered klotho production in lab studies.

    • Poor sleep, loneliness, and chronic stress all push klotho down — Klotho responds to psychological load. Short sleep (under 5.5 hours) and excessive sleep (over 7.5 hours) both lowered levels. Chronic stress reduced klotho in women caring for sick children and in soldiers under high pressure. Social connection, especially emotional closeness, was correlated with better klotho status, even in middle age.

    • Risky habits blunt klotho’s protective effects — Smoking, alcohol, and cannabis all showed negative or inconsistent relationships with klotho. In some cases, the body responded to inflammation by temporarily increasing levels, but this wasn’t protective, it was compensatory. Over time, the cumulative damage from these habits appeared to wear down klotho’s regenerative capacity.

    Klotho Is Your Brain and Body’s Aging Thermostat

    Published in the Clinical Kidney Journal, a comprehensive review examined how klotho influences aging, cognition, inflammation, and longevity through its effects on phosphate metabolism, vitamin D regulation and multiple molecular signaling pathways.5 The authors pulled together decades of preclinical and clinical evidence to outline how declining klotho levels are tightly linked to both chronic diseases and neurodegeneration.

    • Lower klotho levels are consistently tied to shorter lifespan, poor memory, and cognitive decline — Mice that lack the klotho gene show signs of accelerated aging, including cognitive impairment, vascular disease, infertility, and early death. Humans with low klotho levels face higher risks for kidney disease, heart problems, and frailty.

    One large national cohort study of 10,069 people found that adults with the lowest serum klotho levels had a 31% higher risk of dying from any cause compared to those with higher levels.

    • Your klotho levels drop with age, but not just because you’re getting older — Inflammation, poor diet, and chronic illness all contribute to a decline in klotho expression. For instance, diabetic kidney disease, high blood pressure, and even low oxygen levels reduce klotho.

    • Klotho helps your brain clear toxins and protect memory — Soluble klotho is produced in brain regions involved in memory and learning. Studies show it reduces oxidative stress, supports nerve cell repair and protects against damage from Alzheimer’s-related proteins.

    Even when administered outside the brain, klotho fragments have been shown to boost synaptic plasticity and learning in mice, suggesting it activates neural repair pathways without needing to cross the blood-brain barrier.

    • Klotho blocks the destructive pathways that fuel aging at the cellular level — This includes suppressing a pathway that promotes fibrosis and scarring, damping down signaling that raises inflammation and regulating intracellular calcium to maintain healthy cell function. Klotho also helps manage energy metabolism, antioxidant defense, and tissue regeneration, making it a master regulator of healthy aging.

    Klotho Decline Reflects Aging and Disease Severity

    Research published in Ageing Research Reviews analyzed klotho levels across 65 studies and confirmed that this antiaging protein consistently decreases with age, even in otherwise healthy people. The decline is more severe in those with kidney, metabolic, or endocrine disorders. Researchers tracked klotho in blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), urine and tissue samples, reinforcing its usefulness as a biomarker for both aging and chronic disease progression.

    • Klotho loss accelerates disease — Low klotho levels in the brain have been linked to reduced white matter integrity and greater oxidative stress, according to studies on aged rhesus monkeys.

    In both animal and cell models, klotho deficiency led to increased susceptibility to inflammation and neurodegeneration. Restoring klotho, on the other hand, improved cell maturation and reduced inflammation in models of Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

    • Baseline klotho levels are essential for future therapies — Because levels of klotho vary so widely by age and disease status, researchers emphasize the importance of establishing personal klotho baselines. Understanding what’s normal at different life stages helps doctors better assess risk and tailor future interventions.

    • What this means for you — Monitoring your klotho levels could one day be as routine as checking blood pressure. If this protein turns out to be as central to healthy aging as the evidence suggests, it could help detect early signs of degenerative conditions and open the door to customized, preventative therapies. In short, klotho appears to be key to measuring, and maintaining, your body’s biological resilience over time.

    Simple Ways to Activate Your Longevity Switch

    If you want to increase your klotho levels and keep them high as you age, you need to focus on the lifestyle habits that trigger its natural production in your body. This isn’t about expensive treatments or supplements — it’s about addressing the root causes of accelerated aging: low cellular energy, chronic stress, poor diet, inactivity, and inflammation.

    Klotho doesn’t show up when your system is overloaded. It rises when your body feels safe, nourished, and supported. Here’s what I recommend if you want to tap into the same antiaging system that helped mice live 20% longer and thrive in old age:

    1. Move your body, but don’t overdo it — Klotho increases with daily movement, especially moderate aerobic activity like walking, cycling, or light resistance training. But if you push too hard, it reverses the benefit. If you’re sedentary or struggling with energy, start with 20 to 30 minutes of brisk walking each day and build up to an hour daily from there. The goal is consistency, not exhaustion.

    2. Eat like your life depends on it, because it does — Choose foods that nourish your cells. If you’re still eating low-carb, you’re working against klotho. Build your meals around whole foods like fresh fruit, root vegetables, fermented foods like raw grass fed yogurt or kefir, and minerals like copper and magnesium. I recommend whole-food carbs first, along with collagen-rich protein and tallow, ghee, or grass fed butter as your fats of choice.

    3. Give your gut a reason to heal — Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir support gut integrity and encourage healthy klotho levels. If you’re dealing with digestive issues, don’t jump straight to fiber-heavy foods. Start with healing carbs like whole fruit and white rice, and slowly build up. Your gut flora is part of the communication loop that regulates your aging proteins.

    4. Soak in sunshine and get your vitamin D naturally — Vitamin D directly triggers the klotho gene, so if you’re inside all day, you’re missing a key switch. Aim for regular daily sunlight with no sunscreen, but avoid exposure during peak hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) until you’ve eliminated vegetable oils from your diet for at least six months.

    The linoleic acid in vegetable oils makes your skin more susceptible to damage from the sun. If you’re vitamin D deficient or are unable to get regular sun exposure, use a vitamin D3 supplement, but always check that it’s balanced with magnesium and K2.

    5. Stop doing things that age you faster — Smoking, loneliness, and chronic stress send klotho in the wrong direction. Start by building real social connections, creating a wind-down routine for sleep and learning to recognize the signals that your body needs rest, not stimulation.

    FAQs About Klotho and Aging

    Q: What is klotho, and why is it so important for aging?

    A: Klotho is a protein your body makes naturally, mostly in your kidneys and brain. It helps protect against the effects of aging by reducing inflammation, supporting brain function, and preserving muscle and bone health.

    Low klotho levels have been linked to shorter lifespans, memory loss and age-related disease. Research now shows it may act as a “longevity switch” that reflects how well your body is aging — more accurately than conventional disease markers.6

    Q: Does boosting klotho actually extend your lifespan?

    A: Yes, at least in animal studies so far. A 2025 study published in Molecular Therapy found that raising klotho levels in healthy mice extended their lifespan by 20%.7 But it didn’t just help them live longer. They stayed stronger, sharper, and showed fewer signs of age-related decline in muscle, bone, and brain function.

    Q: How do I increase my klotho levels naturally?

    A: Daily habits play a powerful role. Research in Metabolites shows moderate exercise, a whole-food diet rich in antioxidants, restful sleep, sunlight exposure for vitamin D, and emotional connection all raise klotho levels.8 On the flip side, stress, poor diet, smoking, and sleep issues cause levels to drop.

    Q: Is klotho something to take as a supplement or drug?

    A: No, klotho isn’t available as a pill or over-the-counter treatment. Current experiments use gene therapy to increase klotho production inside the body, but these methods are still in early stages and not approved for humans. For now, your best bet is creating the right conditions for your body to make more of it on its own.

    Q: Could klotho be used as a routine health test someday?

    A: Yes, since klotho levels drop with age and illness, scientists believe it could become a future biomarker, like blood pressure, to assess how well your body is aging. One review of 65 studies confirmed that klotho declines with chronic disease, especially in the brain, kidney, and metabolic systems. Tracking it could help predict disease risk and guide early intervention.9

  • How to Improve your eCommerce Strategy

    How to Improve your eCommerce Strategy


    Shopping has fundamentally changed over the last 30 years. Sites like eBay have given rise to Amazon, and now every store has its own digital storefront, giving unprecedented access to products from around the world.

    All this action has led to a crowded market, which makes it hard for SMBs to stand out among the competition. In this industry, you can’t just phone-in success (well, phones do play a big part, but we’ll get into that later). Today, it’s more important than ever to provide a high quality  customer journey to keep your customer base loyal. Below are a few tips that can help SMBs maximize their conversions by creating customer-focused customer journeys.

    B2B? B2C? Try B2H!

    It’s estimated that 21% of all retail purchases in 2025 will be online. That’s big business that companies of any size, from Enterprise to SMB, can’t ignore. And while eCommerce is found across a range of business types, whether that’s B2B, B2C, or some other acronym, eComm success can be measured best across B2H (or Business to Human).

    In business, your eCommerce platform should make the customer journey as frictionless as possible, which means understanding that the end-user wants a consistent user experience – no matter the industry. According to Accenture, 82% of B2B buyers expect the same level of convenience as B2C shoppers. This includes simple navigation, smart design, a fast checkout, and most importantly, all the information they need in order to answer their questions and feel comfortable purchasing a product online. After all, whether it’s a holiday shopper or a top decision maker for IT, we’re all human and deserve the same level of user experience across the board.

    Some easy ways to implement this are by providing easy-to-use tools that make the entire eComm experience more effective. Tools like advanced search, one-click reordering, and real-time inventory visibility will provide the same level of care for your B2B customers that B2C customers experience daily.

    Prioritize Phone-First Thinking

    Over 30% of the global population shops via mobile. That equates to 1.65 billion online shoppers globally. In the B2B market, 80% of buyers use mobile devices. It doesn’t take a mathematician to tell you these are big numbers, just like it doesn’t take a marketing expert to tell you where SMBs should be investing their resources.

    Mobile offers a unique need for shoppers and buyers. As busy as people’s lives are, both at work and at home, mobile access to your products and services is crucial. It’s imperative for end users to be able to research and place orders on the go. SMBs should optimize their eCommerce offerings to include simple user interfaces, fast mobile responsiveness, and quick load times. That’s right, today’s shoppers and buyers have a need for speed. Studies show that even a

    Make Product Information Crystal Clear

    To facilitate more conversions, SMBs should provide detailed product information so customers can make more informed decisions. According to a Sana survey, 37% of users cite poor product information as the number one reason not to trust a web store.

    SMBs can build trust with their customers by providing highly detailed product descriptions with plenty of supporting assets for users to peruse. These can include datasheets, informational videos, FAQs, infographics, or really anything that provides a full picture of your product or service. Transparency builds trust, and with millions of products floating in the eCommerce space, a little extra info can really make you stand out among the competition.

    NSO: Never Stop Optimizing

    Companies that lean heavily on customer analytics are 23 times more likely to outperform their competition. EComm success is about playing the long game, and that means going over your in-house customer data to identify where to improve and devoting resources to optimize the user journey.

    This is especially important to SMBs, as larger companies often have whole teams dedicated to improving customer experiences across all channels. One of the ways SMBs are getting ahead is through the use of AI. Today’s AI tools have the ability to analyze data at breakneck speeds, as well as deliver deep insights from customers’ online behavior, like past searches, clicks, purchases, and more. When fed into current data-filtering tools, this data can be used to improve site performance, boost conversion rates, and leverage customer behavior to refine your sales approach.

    Keep It Personal

    Currently, 84% of eCommerce businesses are making AI the top product in their own shopping carts. And that’s for a very good reason. Through advanced language models and machine learning, AI is already helping to pinpoint customer segments and personalize their customer journeys to their needs, whether that’s in the form of new product recommendations or better pricing.

    Within the last year, AI has been helping customers have better interactions with online storefronts with personalized recommendations in ways never thought possible, all thanks to machine learning.

    AI smart searching can provide recommendations based on offline buying habits. Don’t worry! AI is not standing behind you at the checkout line. Rather, advanced AI tools can tap into transactional data to help customers find additional products that are in line with their current searches. This can be used to find more affordable or better-quality items during a search and improve overall customer satisfaction.

    I had the pleasure of talking a bit about eComm success and the many ways to improve the customer journey with my good friend and cohost, Kat Macomson, Global Digital Marketing Manager here at Cisco. In fact, we dedicated a whole episode of our podcast, 404 Script Not Found, to discussing the latest trends in SMB marketing and technology, from AI to the latest in wearable tech. We hope you give it a listen!

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  • A new report offers insights for U.K. efforts to improve polluted water supply : NPR

    A new report offers insights for U.K. efforts to improve polluted water supply : NPR


    A new report offers insights for U.K. efforts to improve areas with polluted water supplies.



    PIEN HUANG, HOST:

    England’s land – so goes an old song – is green and pleasant, but for years, many of its rivers have been dirty and gross. That’s because of sewage discharge that causes pollution and has led to considerable controversy around the nation’s privatized water system. Now, a major new review is shaking up the industry and cleaning up the waterways, as Willem Marx reports.

    WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: Humans have lived near the River Kennet in the west of England for thousands of years. Today, so, too, does James Wallace, who’s shown me what was one of his family’s favorite swimming spots.

    (SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)

    JAMES WALLACE: It is beautiful, but as we step towards the water edge, we can see this carpet going along the bottom of algae, which is snuffing out the opportunity for life. And it means that on the top, on the surface, we see a vibrant, healthy habitat, and beneath, we see a dead one. And that is because of sewage pollution.

    MARX: The pollution comes from a nearby sewage treatment plant, run by a company called Thames Water. It’s now nationally notorious. In May, it was fined nearly $165 million, a record, for discharging untreated sewage into rivers, with a separate fine for paying hefty but unjustified dividends to its shareholders.

    WALLACE: We’re seeing the places like this, which are highly protected, natural environment, are being trashed by corporate profits.

    MARX: Wallace runs an environmental campaign group called River Action and wanted me to see Thames Water’s nearby treatment plant, a few miles upriver.

    (SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)

    WALLACE: How about I show you some of the wilder bits?

    MARX: Behind a green metal gate, the facility handles smelly household sewage and rainwater runoff. But as Britain’s population increases and its rainfall dwindles under climate change, pressure on the overall water system has increased, while spending on it has historically not.

    WALLACE: The system was designed to cope with it years ago, but not now. Because of a lack of investment across the industry, not just Thames Water, it means the whole of Britain is exposed to a serious crisis in water pollution.

    MARX: And after sewage started clogging the country’s waterways and stinking up shorelines, that systemwide crisis has prompted a massive public outcry. The U.K. was once known as the dirty man of Europe thanks to its industrial pollution. That improved with the introduction of environmental rules. But then Margaret Thatcher privatized the Victorian age system, and ever since, a couple dozen companies – of which Thames Water is the largest – have been responsible for providing fresh water and removing raw sewage. It’s a system that’s largely failing, says Bertie Wnek, an infrastructure expert at the policy consultancy Public First.

    BERTIE WNEK: What we have is a situation where companies have been kind of incentivized to bring on a load of debt onto the system over time, and we’re finding now that we’re sort of paying the price for that behavior.

    MARX: The U.K.’s water regulator had long prioritized low bills for customers, preventing companies from raising revenues as much as they wanted. So some like Thames relied instead on borrowing money to invest in new infrastructure and generate their profits, amassing huge debts along the way.

    HUGO TAGHOLM: This is both an environmental issue. It’s a health issue, but it’s also a financial scandal.

    MARX: Hugo Tagholm is a surfer and swimmer who led the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage. He’s now with the nonprofit Oceana and criticizes companies for extracting tens of billions of dollars from the industry as profits rather than reinvesting.

    TAGHOLM: This is something that’s enraged the public. The system needs, you know, massive investment, and that really should come from shareholders and the owners of those businesses rather than the customer.

    MARX: Many companies acknowledge investment is needed but argue responsibility for new funding should lie with regulators and political leaders, says Jeevan Jones, chief economist at the industry’s advocacy group, Water UK.

    JEEVAN JONES: The way to get investment is through clear regulation, strong steers from governments and a system that brings in the finance and the investment projects that upgrade those networks and increase our supply.

    MARX: For its part, Thames Water said in a statement this May that it takes its, quote, “responsibility towards the environment very seriously” and says the U.K.’s water regulator, quote, “acknowledges that we’ve already made progress to address issues raised.” Keir Starmer’s government has commissioned an independent report into these problems. The final findings come out this month and will likely suggest an entirely new system of regulation. That can’t come soon enough, says Bhikhu Samat, legal director at the U.K. law firm Shakespeare Martineau, where he specializes in water regulations.

    BHIKHU SAMAT: It’s really a great way for us as a nation to look at what our goals are with water scarcity and climate change impacting us hugely. The recess is well overdue.

    MARX: The water companies’ customers will hope any future changes could calm Britain’s troubled, sometimes dangerously dirty waters. For NPR News, I’m Willem Marx in Marlborough, England.

    Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

    Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

  • Safety vs Stress Signals: A Nervous System Reset

    Safety vs Stress Signals: A Nervous System Reset


    For the longest time, I believed health was about doing more. More supplements, more lab tests, more workouts, and more routines. I kept spreadsheets and detailed checklists of everything I was trying to do for my health. I thought if I just found the right combination and toughed it out long enough, I’d finally feel amazing.

    But what actually changed everything for me wasn’t another protocol. It was a simple mental reframe that shifted how I think about health, healing, and life in general. It was the idea of focusing on sending safety signals to my body, instead of trying to force it into submission.

    This mindset shift transformed the way I eat, move, rest, and even think. It helped me move out of a place of chronic low-level stress and into a state where healing actually became possible. If you feel stuck in a rut like I was, but can’t seem to pinpoint why, then read on!

    Understanding the Nervous System

    First, let’s take a look at the nervous system. Our nervous system operates in two main modes: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the fight, flight, or freeze response. Our body activates this response when it senses danger or a threat. On the flip side, the parasympathetic system is responsible for rest, digestion, and healing.

    Thanks to modern life, many of us spend the majority of our lives stuck in sympathetic mode. Even if we don’t feel mentally stressed, our bodies might still be receiving signals that we’re not safe.

    I spent over a decade in that place. I didn’t understand that my constant doing, even the “healthy” stuff, was keeping me stuck and my body still didn’t feel safe enough to shift into healing mode. That’s where the concept of safety signals versus stress signals comes in.

    What Are Safety and Stress Signals?

    Stress signals are things that tell our bodies to stay on alert. These can be obvious mental stressors like arguments or deadlines, but also more subtle things. Under-eating, over-exercising, poor sleep, loneliness, negative self-talk, or even exposure to blue light at night send stress signals to our nervous system. 

    Safety signals, on the other hand, are cues that tell the body it’s okay to rest and repair. These include things like nourishing food, deep sleep, human connection, hydration, sunlight, gentle movement, and kind self-talk.

    When we focus on sending more safety signals, the nervous system can finally relax. And once it does, so many things start to improve, like our energy, digestion, mood, hormones, and even weight.

    Rebuilding Safety Through Nutrition

    One of the most powerful safety signals we can send to our body is through food. For a long time, I was under-eating, especially when I was trying to heal my thyroid and lose weight at the same time. I didn’t think of it as a stressor because I wasn’t (usually) skipping meals, but I wasn’t eating enough of what my body needed. 

    When we don’t eat enough, our body gets the message that food is scarce. It perceives this as a threat and raises stress hormones, like cortisol. So instead of healing and repairing, our nervous system is on high alert. Overeating also puts stress on the body, especially if we’re overeating high-calorie, low-nutrient, processed foods.  

    The shift happened when I started eating enough, especially focusing on protein, micronutrients, and minerals. I began to prioritize my first meal of the day, making sure it was packed with nutrients and protein, before I reached for any caffeine. I also stopped eating late at night, giving my body time to digest before bed.

    Instead of approaching food from a mindset of restriction or control, I started asking myself, How can I nourish my body today? That shift alone brought noticeable improvements in my energy, mood, and sleep.

    Sleep as a Safety Signal

    We all know sleep is important, but I didn’t realize how much my nervous system was suffering from inconsistent or insufficient sleep. As a mom to quite a few kids, I haven’t always been able to get a full 8 hours!

    Even skipping one hour of sleep can cause cortisol to spike and affect blood sugar and insulin. And when it comes to brain fog, some experts have compared just one night of six hours of sleep to being mildly intoxicated.

    Making sleep a priority, especially with an earlier bedtime and consistent wake-up time, made a big difference for me. I noticed improvements in my heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and overall sense of calm. This can be difficult to do for moms, but the idea is to make sleep a priority. For me this meant no more cleaning the kitchen late at night or browsing social media after the kids went to bed!

    Creating a calm sleep environment helped too. I turned my bedroom into a sleep oasis and kept it dark and cool with as little noise as possible. I reduced blue light exposure in the evening and found that my body started to naturally unwind and fall into deeper sleep.

    Light and Circadian Rhythms

    While I avoid blue light at night, it’s your friend during the daytime. Natural light is one of the most powerful but overlooked tools for supporting the nervous system.

    Getting sunlight in the morning helps set the body’s internal clock and supports melatonin production at night for better sleep. Getting sunlight in the middle of the day boosts mitochondrial health, improves nutrient absorption, and supports hormone balance. I try to get at least 10 minutes of morning sunlight within 30 minutes of waking, often barefoot so I also get grounding benefits. Then I’ll take a few short walks with my weighted vest or sit on a lounge chair to soak up the afternoon sun. 

    In contrast, blue light exposure at night tells the body it’s daytime, which can disrupt sleep and cause stress. I started using amber and red lighting in the evenings and wearing blue light blocking glasses when needed. I also switched to using warm light sources after sunset from lamps. These lamps are on a timer so I don’t even have to think about switching them on when the sun sets. 

    Simple shifts in light exposure help my body feel more in tune with its natural rhythms. Plus, it reduced the constant background stress I didn’t even know was there.

    Hydration and Mineral Balance

    Dehydration is another common but often ignored stress signal. When we’re even slightly dehydrated, our blood thickens, our energy drops, and our body perceives that something is wrong.

    But hydration isn’t just about drinking water. Our bodies need minerals, like magnesium, potassium, and sodium in order for water to actually be absorbed and used effectively. I started drinking mineral water in the morning, often outside in the sun. I also focus on staying hydrated between meals so that I’m not diluting my stomach acid needed for digestion. 

    Not only does it help support my nervous system, but I notice more energy when I hydrate with plenty of minerals. 

    Movement That Feels Supportive

    Getting enough water is important, but so is getting enough movement. Exercise can either be a safety signal or a stress signal, depending on what our body needs at a given time.

    When I was deeply stressed, intense workouts made things worse. My body craved gentle movements, like walking, swimming, or stretching. Over time, as my nervous system stabilized, I slowly reintroduced strength training and resistance exercises. Now you’ll find me doing sprints on the track field. 

    My mindset has changed so I see movement as another way to support my body, not punish it. I aim for regular walks, mobility work, and body-friendly ways of moving throughout the day. There’s a time and a place for more intense exercise, but it can be too much when we’re in nervous system overload. 

    Environmental and Emotional Signals

    Even if we’re eating well and sleeping enough, our environment still sends signals to our nervous system. Synthetic fragrances, harsh cleaning products, synthetic clothing, and even clutter can all act as subtle stressors.

    Our inner dialogue matters too. The way we speak to ourselves, whether with criticism or compassion, has a direct impact on how safe our nervous system feels. I noticed that I was saying things like “my body is attacking itself.” 

    When I noticed negative thoughts, I asked, Would I say this to my child or my best friend? If not, it didn’t belong in my inner world either. Instead, I shifted my mindset to say something like, “My body is healing.” These shifts helped me create more safety from within.

    Connection, Joy, and the Subtle Signals

    Human connection is another deeply powerful safety signal. Eye contact, laughter, touch, and presence all tell our bodies we’re safe and supported.

    Joy and finding happiness in even the little things in life are important here too. Things like singing, dancing, warm baths, humming, stretching, or even just watching the sunset are all ways to nurture the nervous system. The vagus nerve, which plays a big role in parasympathetic activation, responds to these small, joyful acts.

    I also began to think about how my home environment could feel more supportive. I swapped harsh lights for gentle ones, removed synthetic fragrances, and made my bedroom a cozy space that truly felt safe. 

    Final Thoughts on Safety Signals

    The most important thing I’ve learned is that our bodies are always on our side. They are constantly working to protect us, even when it doesn’t feel that way. When we learn to communicate with our body instead of trying to fix or force it, everything changes for the better.

    If you’re just starting on this path, I would encourage you to choose one small thing. Get morning sunlight. Drink mineral-rich water. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Eat a protein-rich breakfast. Whatever feels manageable and kind to your body. 

    It’s not about doing more, but listening more to what our body is telling us.

    What are some ways you support your nervous system health? Leave a comment and let us know!

  • Unlocking DMSO — The Forgotten Molecule That Makes Drugs Work Better, Safer, and Faster

    Unlocking DMSO — The Forgotten Molecule That Makes Drugs Work Better, Safer, and Faster


    DMSO is a remarkable naturally occurring substance that (provided it’s used correctly1) safely and rapidly improves a variety of conditions medicine struggles with — particularly chronic pain. For example, thousands of studies show DMSO treats a wide range of:

    • Injuries such as sprains, concussions, burns, surgical incisions, and spinal cord injuries (discussed here).

    • Strokes, paralysis, many neurological disorders (e.g., Down syndrome and dementia), and numerous circulatory disorders (e.g., Raynaud’s, varicose veins, or hemorrhoids), which were discussed here.

    • Chronic pain (e.g., from a bad disc, bursitis, arthritis, or complex regional pain syndrome), which was discussed here.

    • Many autoimmune, protein, and contractile disorders, such as scleroderma, amyloidosis, and interstitial cystitis (discussed here).

    • Head conditions, such as tinnitus, vision loss, dental problems, and sinusitis (discussed here).

    • Internal organ diseases such as pancreatitis, infertility, liver cirrhosis, and endometriosis (discussed here).

    • A wide range of skin conditions, such as burns, varicose veins, acne, hair loss, ulcers, skin cancer, and many autoimmune dermatologic diseases (discussed here).

    • Many challenging infections, such as shingles, herpes, chronic ear or dental infections, and osteomyelitis (discussed here).

    • Cancers and many complications from the illness and its treatments (discussed here).

    In turn, since I started this series, it struck a chord, and I have received over 2,000 reports of remarkable responses to DMSO, and many readers have had for a variety of “incurable conditions.”

    This begs an obvious question — if a substance capable of doing all of that exists, why does almost no one know about it? Simply put, like many other promising therapies, it fell victim to a pernicious campaign by the FDA, which kept it away from America despite decades of scientific research, congressional protest, and thousands of people pleading for the FDA to reconsider its actions. Consider for example, this 60 minutes program about DMSO that aired on March 23, 1980:

    Video Link

    Video Link

    Understanding DMSO’s Combination Potential

    DMSO’s effectiveness in treating a wide range of illnesses stems from its unique and diverse properties, many of which appear to target the root causes of disease — such as enhancing parasympathetic activity, improving circulation, regenerating senescent cells, providing potent anti-inflammatory effects, and blocking pain conduction. Sadly, despite hundreds of studies demonstrating these promising characteristics, the FDA has refused to recognize all but one property of DMSO.

    In pharmacology, DMSO is often referred to as a “vehicle” that helps other drugs get into the body. Because of this, while DMSO only has one approved (intravesical) use in the United States, a variety of drugs are on the market that use DMSO as a “vehicle” to transport them in the body.

    In short, when DMSO is given alone, it is “unsafe” and “unproven” but when combined with a patentable drug, it suddenly becomes “safe and effective.” Likewise, in package inserts, DMSO is typically described as a safe and inert ingredient (despite it often being the primary “active ingredient”).

    DMSO’s ability to serve as a drug delivery system is due to its being a potent solvent with a variety of unique properties.

    • Membrane permeability — DMSO will pass through biological membranes without damaging them, which is extremely unusual.2 This property is believed to be due to its exchange and interchange with water in biological membranes.3 In addition to not harming the skin, when tested with other substances that could enter the brain, DMSO was not observed to alter the cells lining the blood-brain barrier or the brain tissue.4

    • Rapid distribution — Once it contacts the skin, DMSO rapidly spreads throughout the body. Within an hour of being applied to the skin, it can be found within the bones and teeth.5 Interestingly, DMSO does not penetrate tooth enamel or nails, which may explain why certain conditions affecting these structures require different approaches.6

    • Solvent properties — DMSO is a highly potent solvent that can dissolve a wide range of polar and non-polar substances (and hence is sometimes used to solubilize other drug products). If a substance is dissolved within DMSO, DMSO can typically bring it into the body. While a few other substances can also serve as vehicles, DMSO is the most potent in pharmacology (e.g., DMSO is more effective than propylene glycol at delivering topical steroids into the body7).

    • Enhanced circulation and cellular transport — Beyond simply transporting substances into the body, DMSO also greatly increases circulation. By taking the place of water (as it is small, can form hydrogen bonds, and is relatively polar) while being both fat and water soluble, it changes the permeability of the cell membrane, allowing new things to enter the cell and waste products to leave the cells.

    As a result, DMSO is able to both spread what it transports throughout the body and significantly enhance the body’s innate ability to circulate what has already been absorbed (including to previously inaccessible areas).

    This combination of properties enables the topical administration of drugs that would normally require injection, and in many cases, can significantly increase their potency because it penetrates deep regions of the body that pharmaceuticals typically have difficulty entering, or because it bypasses the cellular barriers that normally exclude foreign substances.

    In turn, lower doses of drugs can frequently be used (reducing their toxicity) because they become more potent, and because DMSO combinations can be locally applied to bring a drug to a target region, rather than taking a standard oral dose that raises the entire body’s target concentration.

    • Specialized DMSO pharmaceuticals — These properties allow well established drugs to be combined with DMSO. For example, NSAIDs (which are also used to treat pain and musculoskeletal injuries) have a variety of side effects when consumed orally (e.g., fatal NSAIDs gastric bleeds killed over 16,000 Americans in 19998). However, when combined with DMSO, NSAIDs can be applied topically to the site of injury, thereby avoiding the risks of oral NSAID consumption.

    One FDA-approved drug (Pennsaid) does just that, and in clinical trials, it was found to have minimal systemic toxicity. DMSO significantly enhances the efficacy of diclofenac (Pennsaid’s NSAID) while exhibiting much lower toxicity compared to oral diclofenac.9,10,11,12

    Many other FDA approved pharmaceutical products utilizing DMSO further demonstrate its therapeutic versatility:

    ◦ Mekinist, a targeted cancer therapy, uses DMSO to stabilize the drug and enhance its water solubility, possibly increasing tumor penetration.13

    ◦ Prochymal, a stem cell product for preventing tissue rejection, uses 10% DMSO to preserve stem cells, as do many other stem cell products.14

    ◦ Onyx, a liquid injected into blood vessels to seal leaks, uses DMSO to dissolve the polymer so it remains liquid until reaching problem areas. DMSO is chosen because it’s a uniquely safe substance capable of this function.15

    ◦ Viadur is a non-degradable implant for prostate cancer containing Lupron dissolved in DMSO, designed to slowly release Lupron over a year.16 DMSO is essential because Lupron is otherwise difficult to dissolve, and DMSO preserves its stability while being nontoxic.

    Note: Lupron is an incredibly toxic hormone eliminating drug used for prostate cancer which was adopted by urologists due to it being incredibly lucrative (which then led to it being repurposed for many other areas of medicine such as gynecology and blocking puberty in transgender children).

    Critical Considerations

    DMSO’s function as a vehicle and potentiator has enabled a variety of innovations for common medical therapies (e.g., pain-killers, antibiotics, and chemotherapy), which has inspired many others to experiment with these combinations. However, for anyone planning to do this, it is critical to understand the safety precautions that must accompany using DMSO in this manner.

    • Contamination risk — One of the major risks of DMSO is its potential to exacerbate the effects of a toxic substance already present in the skin, so it is crucial to clean the skin thoroughly before applying DMSO. The original investigator of DMSO learned this lesson the hard way when researching toxic pesticides.17

    [Herschler] wanted to investigate whether certain highly toxic pesticides were soluble in DMSO. The researcher felt how soluble they were when he sprayed some of the solution onto his skin. DMSO transported the poison into the body within minutes. The poison worked: Herschler temporarily suffered from impaired consciousness and shortness of breath.

    Remarkably, despite the immense potential harm, serious incidents are extremely rare, suggesting either that users are consistently careful about cleaning skin prior to DMSO applications or that the actual risk is limited to highly toxic substances.

    • Potentiation effects — Many agents become significantly more potent when mixed with DMSO, and in a few reports made rare side effects typically seen at higher doses manifest (something which has occasionally been reported with the more toxic antibiotics like fluoroquinolones or certain chemotherapy drugs).

    With natural substances, this is generally not problematic (as their potency and toxicity are typically much less than pharmaceuticals). Still, it remains a real consideration (although I have not come across any reports of this injuring someone).

    • Size limitations — While DMSO can draw things inside the body, it can only do so for smaller molecules, with the size limit thought to be around 500 daltons (although there are numerous examples of larger drugs also being transported).

    For this reason, DMSO tends to work well as a vehicle for individual drugs or chemicals but not larger proteins (e.g., peptides). Likewise, pathogenic organisms are far too big for DMSO to transport, so areas of application do not need to be disinfected prior to application.

    Note: Below the skin, the transportation limit is much higher (e.g., evidence suggests DMSO can bring molecules larger than 70,000 Da through the blood-brain barrier, opening even wider possibilities for intravenous applications).18

    • Purity requirements — When making DMSO combinations, it’s essential to obtain pure ingredients, as many pharmaceutical and supplement preparations contain multiple ingredients beyond the primary active compound

    Note: One of DMSO’s most promising combinations is with a common dye (hematoxylin) as this combination selectively targets tumors with no toxicity to normal tissue and has remarkable efficacy against a wide range of cancers. Unfortunately, hematoxylin is often mixed with heavy metals (to better stain tissues), illustrating the need to ensure pure substances with DMSO.

    • Leaching — As a solvent, DMSO can leach toxic chemicals (e.g., those added to the surfaces of plastics) and hence later bring them into the body. For this reason, it is advisable to avoid storing DMSO in plastic that is not DMSO resistant and to avoid mixing or preparing DMSO with plastic tools.

    In most cases, DMSO only leaches plastic at concentrations about 20%, so if DMSO is diluted before putting it in contact with plastic many of these issues can be avoided. Likewise, many DMSO compatible materials exist for preparing DMSO combinations — all of which is discussed further here.

    Note: Most implanted medical devices are not at risk of DMSO leaching them as it dilutes far below 20% by the time it reaches them and can contact their plastic components. The one exception are within dental implants, and for that reason, DMSO mouthwashes must always be sufficiently diluted.

    DMSO Drug Interactions

    Given DMSO’s ability to potentiate pharmaceuticals, a critical question arises: is it safe to take alongside other drugs? The answer is nuanced:

    • What we know — Most pharmaceutical interactions, unfortunately, have not been studied. Fortunately (particularly since over 61% of Americans are on at least one medication19), significant reactions are rarely reported.

    Generally speaking, the risk for potentiation is stronger the closer they are taken together (particularly when mixed together in an IV infusion) so it is generally advised to space DMSO and a pharmaceutical by at least two hours, and in the case of more toxic ones (e.g., fluoroquinolones and certain chemotherapies) by at least two days.

    Note: DMSO can also mitigate many pharmaceutical toxicities, such as gentamicin’s kidney toxicity20 or many injuries caused by chemotherapy.

    Most of the research into DMSO’s interactions was conducted during the initial trials in the 1960s, where it was discovered DMSO significantly potentiated alcohol and also potentiated barbiturates, corticosteroids, insulin, digitalis, nitroglycerin, quinidine sulfate, and chemotherapy21 (leading to lower doses sometimes being needed).

    Since then, DMSO has also been observed to potentiate certain opioids (e.g., morphine patches), NSAIDs, anticonvulsants (e.g., gabapentin), and certain sedatives (e.g., trazodone). Users typically do not report potentiation of anticoagulants; however, as a serious risk might exist, it is advisable to monitor your coagulation parameters when using both concurrently.

    Note: Insulin potentiation is hypothesized to result from DMSO’s protein refolding capacity restoring the functionality of insulin receptors.22

    Conversely, DMSO has also been observed to reverse the effects of Botox, likely by neutralizing the toxin induced paralysis.

    Therapeutic Synergies

    Over the years, many remarkable pharmaceutical DMSO combinations have been developed for a wide range of medical applications. These include:

    • Antibiotics — Antibiotic resistance is a major problem in medicine. However, when combined with DMSO, many organisms that are chronic and debilitating or life threatening (e.g., tuberculosis) lose their resistance to antibiotics.

    DMSO also makes it possible to reach infections such as those within the bones that are normally difficult to reach and otherwise require maintaining very high blood concentrations of the drugs to ensure this result. Finally, in many cases (both for cost and to protect the gut microbiome) being able to topically apply an oral or IV antibiotic can be immensely advantageous (e.g., for mastitis or Lyme disease).

    • Antifungals — Fungal infections are often located in areas that topical and oral antibiotics have difficulty penetrating. However, research shows combining an antifungal with topical DMSO can reach those infections and there are many reports of multiyear fungal infections quickly resolving from this combination.

    • Herpes and shingles — Some of the most potent antiviral medications have difficulty penetrating through a lesion to where the virus resides. However, once combined with DMSO they do, and many clinical trials have proven the efficacy of these antiviral combinations.

    • Corticosteroids — For issues within the body, steroids (which have significant systemic toxicity) must be injected or taken orally. When combined with DMSO, this is often no longer needed, and as DMSO potentiates steroids, much lower and far less toxic doses can be taken to address an autoimmune or musculoskeletal issue.

    • Chemotherapy — By potentiating chemotherapy, DMSO has been proven to cure chemotherapy resistant cancers, and in many cases does so with much lower doses being needed.

    Recently, owing to the emerging popularity of using ivermectin for treating cancer (which sometimes produces spectacular results but typically fits best as a complementary therapy), physicians have begun combining ivermectin with DMSO into a paste and topically applying it over tumors. While data is limited, this appears to consistently work, and sometimes produces dramatic responses like this one James Miller MD recently shared with me:

    “I had a patient with a thoracic sarcoma that was debilitatingly painful with growth through a couple of ribs and metastases to his skull base that became basically pain free after 2 days of topical DMSO-ivermectin. At his 2.5 week follow up, he was completely pain free and had returned to playing racketball.”

    Note: Nothing comparable to do this can be done with conventional cancer options (and given the severity of that situation, what would be used is also fairly toxic).

    Conclusion

    As so many things can be combined with DMSO, the incredible things we’ve seen so far are only the tip of the iceberg, and only the most preliminary (but highly encouraging) data exists on many of them, as there is so much to research. For example, DMSO combinations have been shown to effectively treat a wide range of eye issues (e.g., eye strain, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts), traumatic injuries (e.g., whiplash) tinnitus, uncomfortable scars, neuropathic pain and Lyme disease.

    Likewise, DMSO combination therapies are not restricted to pharmaceuticals, and as such, over the years, the DMSO community has discovered hundreds of incredible natural DMSO combinations that revolutionize natural medicine.

    Stanley Jacob, the father of DMSO who devoted his career to advancing the science of it, was driven by the recognition DMSO was not a new drug, but rather, like penicillin, a new therapeutic principle which redefined how medicine could be practiced. Fortunately, due to an extraordinary confluence of circumstances, we have now arrived in an era where it is at last (after more than a century) no longer possible to suppress natural healing methods.

    People around the world are at last awakening to the Forgotten Sides of Medicine and the realization that the ways to find the cures we need is not “more research” but rather rediscovering what was already found (but not possible to profit off of). This is an incredibly exciting time and I am immensely grateful to be part of it with you.

    Author’s Note: This is an abridged version of a longer article about DMSO combination therapies which goes into greater detail on the points mentioned here, many of the other combinations not covered (e.g., for tinnitus or vision loss), and provides guidance for preparing the combination therapies. That article, along with resources and protocols for obtaining and using DMSO can be read here.

    A Note from Dr. Mercola About the Author

    A Midwestern Doctor (AMD) is a board-certified physician from the Midwest and a longtime reader of Mercola.com. I appreciate AMD’s exceptional insight on a wide range of topics and am grateful to share it. I also respect AMD’s desire to remain anonymous since AMD is still on the front lines treating patients. To find more of AMD’s work, be sure to check out The Forgotten Side of Medicine on Substack.

    Test Your Knowledge with Today’s Quiz!

    Take today’s quiz to see how much you’ve learned from yesterday’s Mercola.com article.

    What’s the most effective way to build strength with dead hangs while avoiding fatigue?

    • Perform one long hang session each day, focusing on maximizing muscle endurance and upper body strength
    • Combine dead hangs with high-intensity weightlifting sessions weekly to accelerate overall strength gains
    • Incorporate short, consistent hangs throughout the day, paired with targeted wrist and grip-specific exercises

      Short, consistent hangs throughout the day, combined with wrist and grip exercises, build full-body strength and resilience without causing fatigue. This sustainable approach maximizes benefits while keeping you energized. Learn more.

    • Focus on a single extended hang session every few days, prioritizing recovery to prevent muscle overtraining



  • Cisco Services and Support Demos at Cisco Live: A Recap!

    Cisco Services and Support Demos at Cisco Live: A Recap!


    What an incredible time we had at Cisco Live in San Diego recently! For those who joined us, you know Cisco Customer Experience (CX) brought its A-game with a lineup of interactive demos designed to help you tackle your biggest IT challenges and achieve your business goals. Whether you’re looking to build AI-ready data centers, create future-proof workplaces, or strengthen digital resilience, we had something for everyone.

    If you couldn’t attend, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered with a quick recap of demo highlights from the World of Solutions.

    At its core, CX is here to help you optimize your IT environment, maximize your investments, and drive real business outcomes. From simplifying IT operations and keeping networks running smoothly to accelerating transformation with automation and expert support, we’ve got the solutions you need to succeed.

    Here’s a look at some of the exciting demos we showcased at Cisco Live this year:

    AI-Ready Data Centers

    • AI Data Center Services: We demonstrated how to modernize data centers for the demands of AI. From implementation to optimization to AI-powered support, these services are designed to help you stay ahead in the AI era.

    Future-Proof Workplaces

    • Workplace Modernization Services: Attendees got a firsthand look at how Cisco Services can help deploy and optimize workplace technologies like Cisco Spaces, SD-WAN, Wi-Fi 7, and Webex. Plus, with AI-powered support, operations stay resilient and ready for whatever comes next.

    Digital Resilience

    • AI-Powered Support for Uptime and Risk Reduction: These demos highlighted how modern AI-powered support can minimize downtime and proactively address security risks with assessments, mitigation strategies, and fast remediation.
    • Accelerate Resiliency with Professional Services: We showed how our expert-led design, deployment, and optimization services help boost assurance, observability, and security, keeping your business resilient and ready.

    Missed Cisco Live? No Problem!

    If you couldn’t make it to the event, no worries! We’re always here to help you explore how Cisco Customer Experience can support your IT environment and business goals.

    Curious to learn more? Reach out to your Cisco Account Executive or contact us to start the conversation.

    We can’t wait to help you transform what’s next for your business

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  • States sue to stop health data sharing with DHS : NPR

    States sue to stop health data sharing with DHS : NPR


    California Attorney General Rob Bonta at a news conference in San Francisco on Dec. 4, 2024. Bonta is leading 20 state attorneys general in a lawsuit seeking to block federal health officials from further sharing Medicaid data and DHS from using it for immigration enforcement.

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta at a news conference in San Francisco on Dec. 4, 2024. Bonta is leading 20 state attorneys general in a lawsuit seeking to block federal health officials from further sharing Medicaid data and DHS from using it for immigration enforcement.

    Jeff Chiu/AP


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    Jeff Chiu/AP

    Twenty states, led by California, sued the Trump administration Tuesday after federal health officials shared sensitive data about Medicaid recipients with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement.

    “The Trump Administration has upended longstanding privacy protections with its decision to illegally share sensitive, personal health data with ICE,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

    “In doing so, it has created a culture of fear that will lead to fewer people seeking vital emergency medical care,” Bonta said.

    A person pushes a shopping cart up a refrigerated foods aisle at a grocery store.

    The data transfer, which happened last month, was first reported by The Associated Press. Top Health and Human Services officials directed the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) to share data with DHS from California, Illinois, Washington and Washington, DC, about millions of their Medicaid recipients, according to the AP’s report.

    Those jurisdictions allow some low-income immigrants, including some without legal status, who do not qualify for Medicaid to access state-funded health programs.

    States routinely must share extensive data about Medicaid enrollees with CMS, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, immigration status and healthcare information — but say that data is supposed to stay confidential.

    The suit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco, asks the court to stop HHS from sharing Medicaid data with any other federal agency and to stop DHS, any other federal agency, or the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from using the data for immigration enforcement or “population surveillance.”

    It also asks the court to order the “impoundment, disgorgement, and destruction of all copies of any Medicaid data containing personally identifiable, protected health information that has already been unlawfully disclosed to DHS and DOGE.”

    Bonta and almost all the other state attorneys general bringing the federal lawsuit are Democrats.

    DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin sent NPR a statement that said, in part: “CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans.”

    The Department of Health and Human Services said it does not comment on litigation, but last month, spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement that the data transfer was legal, and that CMS is “aggressively cracking down on states that may be misusing federal Medicaid funds to subsidize care for illegal immigrants.”

    “This oversight effort — supported by lawful interagency data sharing with DHS — is focused on identifying waste, fraud, and systemic abuse,” Nixon said in the same statement. “We are not only protecting taxpayer dollars — we are restoring credibility to one of America’s most vital programs.”

    All states, however, receive emergency Medicaid funds that reimburse hospitals for emergency care regardless of someone’s immigration status.

    The lawsuit comes the same day the Senate passed deep cuts to Medicaid and other federal benefit programs in President Trump’s signature domestic policy bill. The sweeping bill now heads to the House for a final vote.

    The Senate side of the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, D.C., early Monday, June 30, 2025, ahead of a final vote on President Trump's signature domestic policy bill.

    The other states joining the lawsuit are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

    The Trump administration, led by the DOGE effort, has taken unprecedented steps to access and aggregate data across the federal government, and more recently, from states. Critics have raised security, privacy and legal concerns about the effort, and there are more than a dozen federal lawsuits against the administration alleging privacy law violations.

    “It has been widely reported that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been amassing federal benefit data, such as Social Security recipient information, and individuals’ tax information, to build a searchable database of Americans’ information for several purposes, including to assist ICE in immigration enforcement actions,” the lawsuit said.