Gladden longevity — Episode #16

Speaker 1: Welcome to the Gladden Longevity Podcast, with Dr. Jeffrey Gladden MD, FACC, founder and CEO of Gladden Longevity. On this show, we want to answer three questions for you. How good can we be? How do we make 100, the new 30, and how do we live well beyond 120? We want to help you optimize your longevity, health and human performance with impactful and actionable information. Now, here's today's episode of the Gladden Longevity Podcast. The Gladden Longevity Podcast is provided for informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your medical condition. The use of any information and materials linked to this podcast is at the listener's own risk.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Welcome everybody to this edition of the Gladden Longevity Podcast. Today, I'm going to be discussing with my colleague, Dr. Ernie Navarro, long-haul COVID, and people that are still suffering symptoms from the vaccine. We're going to be talking about some really interesting approaches that we have here at Gladden Longevity. We're going to share with you tips and tricks that we use, things that we've used to get people out of the hole, so to speak. We're also going to talk about how COVID and exposure to COVID is actually aging us, and what it takes to actually reverse that as well. I think you're going to find this show really fascinating, Everybody, to this edition of the Gladden Longevity Podcast. I'm going to be joined today by my co-host, Dr. Ernie Navarro. Ernie and I work together here at Gladden Longevity, and one of the topics that we've had brought up to us that people are interested in hearing more about is long-haul COVID, and people that are still suffering with symptoms related to having gotten the vaccine. It's a really interesting topic. I think in the world of COVID, we've started to feel pretty good about it. I mean, the whole world is opening back up again. Omicron certainly was very infectious, but many fewer people were actually being seriously affected. We felt like the virus was actually devolving, if you will, from highly virulent sort of mutant strain, into something that was more natural and all that bodes well. I think COVID's going to be here to stay, but that being said, I also talk with people that have had Omicron, that are still suffering with long-haul symptoms, and have been down for several weeks or a month or more. I think it's important for us to address this, because it's a serious problem. It's one thing to get the flu and be sick for three days, five days or a week. It's another thing to feel draggy for six weeks or two months. So, we want to talk with about this a little bit more. So. Dr. Navarro, I know you've been seeing some people in the clinic that have this, and maybe we can kind of walk people through our thought process on what we think is going on and what the approach is that we're taking.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah. Dr. Gladden, it's great to be back on the show. Yeah. People have been complaining of different, various symptoms, whether it seems to be brain fog slower than it was, or just energy, general energy. They're less motivated to go back to the gym or just get on that treadmill, as they were prior to COVID. Yeah. So, it's kind of a whole host of different symptoms that people are reporting.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah. It seems like it's, when you look at some of the underlying things to those symptoms, and I hear exactly the same things, is that mitochondrial function seems to be kind of knocked down for these people. They just don't seem to be making as much ATP, and when you're not making as much energy, your brain's going to be foggy. You're not going to feel like going to the gym. You're going to feel more listless. Or when you do try to be active, you're going to run out of steam fairly quickly.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Exactly.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Then I'm also hearing about some people that have some residual shortness of breath. The lungs seem to be affected. There's still some inflammation in the lungs. We know that there are cases of myocarditis that can occur both with the vaccine and from COVID itself, so there could be a cardiac component, this whole inflammatory component. So, I think in the way that we've been thinking about it, there are certain supplements that we like. We like hydrogen in this context. We like the SPMs in this context. We think those are kind of two fundamental things, but really, they're not enough to actually get people over the hump when they have long-haul COVID or, or severely reacting to the vaccine. I know that you've been adding some other things to that. Do you want to talk a little bit about some of the things that you reach for?

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah. So, the nice thing is, we have access to a few more resources, so there's some great supplements, like you mentioned. But being able to do ozone, for example, 10 pass treatments is great. It kind of addresses a lot of the different issues. It lowers inflammatory cytokines. It boosts NAD or improves the NAD to NADH ratio. Seems to just kind of wake people up in a way after even one treatment. We've seen some great improvements, especially with the lungs. So, love that, and we love being able to provide that for our clients. We have Nuchido TIME+, is another one I know you've talked about on a previous podcast, is a great way to kind of just get those mitochondria working properly again, at any age, which is nice, kind of addresses that whole pathway. So, we definitely incorporate that as well. Then the inflammation, that seems to be the main thing that kind of goes on and kind of affects people, whether you have inflammation in your brain, your body, your joints. So, kind of attacking that hard, whether it's highly bioavailable curcumin, the molecular hydrogen, the SPMs, as you mentioned. Then another huge component we found is thyroid status. So, people that have, we might already have them on thyroid and they just might need even a boost for a while, honestly. They just have higher demands. So, improving that by doing a resting metabolic rate, of course, checking labs, but again, how do they feel? That's a big component of our, the way we dose our thyroid, is how people are reporting that they feel. I think it's important to kind of base, use that as a big indicator of dosage, not just a blood panel, right?

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah, exactly. Now, I think that's right, and I think there are lots of reports basically, of ozone being used, and we've done podcasts on ozone where it does have this ability to improve the NAD to NADH ratio. So, why is that important? Well, it's important, because when your NAD to NADH ratio is optimized, then your mitochondria are able to work better and create more ATP for you. Simultaneously, that NAD to NADH ratio is optimized. It actually activates sirtuins, and sirtuins are basically proteins that activate other mechanisms related to longevity, like DNA repair, et cetera. So, optimizing that ratio is very important, and obviously, there are reports from people that have been doing [inaudible 00:07:34], that this is very helpful. We found that the Nuchido is also very helpful. Then I think one of the other thing that people should understand is that COVID actually beats up people's telomeres. We know that telomeres, which are the end caps on the end of the chromosomes, that people that have shorter telomeres have a harder time with COVID. They're much more apt to end up in the hospital. They're much more apt to have a more protracted disease. In part it's because, when telomeres are short, it seems to correlate with a weaker immune system. We see that, more immuno senescence when telomeres get short in the measurements that we do. So, actually rebooting the telomeres can be very effective. In my own situation, I did have COVID. It was over two years ago, and my telomeres really took a hit. I went from being telomerically about four or five years younger than my chronological age, to being about five years older than my chronological age, just from COVID. That was discouraging to see. When the telomeres are shorter things don't work as well. For example, when telomeres get short, they release a molecule called P53, which signals to the mitochondria to shut down energy production. So, there can be this whole loop, not just because of the inflammation, but also because it's, in a way, COVID is accelerating one of the drivers of aging, which is making you feel more tired, kind of like you would, if you were 80 years old, right? Like when you talk to the elderly people, they're tired all the time. They're cold all the time. They're, they don't have much energy. So, it's important to understand that COVID is not just an infection. It can also be accelerating some of the drivers of aging, if you will. So, what I've ended up doing is, we have access to a product that we're developing, and actually we're the only ones in the world that have access to it. But utilizing this product, I've been able to take my telomeres back to a point where they're now really in an excellent category for somebody in their mid to late thirties. I know that sounds extraordinary, and we think, we're super excited about this, particularly as we dovetail and into some of the research protocols that we're doing. I think what we will do is, on the Life Raft Trial that I've described in a prior podcast, we will have a COVID arm, where we have people that are either struggling with long-haul COVID or symptoms of the vaccine, and we'll be measuring the ways in which it's actually accelerated their aging, as well as what their inflammatory status is, their energy status and things like that. Then we'll be taking a very concerted approach, looking at decreasing inflammation, boosting NAD, increasing energy levels. Then also, going after some of these key drivers of aging that we think are actually being exacerbated by the disease itself. So, yeah.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah. No, that's great. I think another thing that I was talking about with another client, I think, has worked well, and we found has been useful, is actually using a sauna. We're big fans of a sauna, right, for many, many reasons which we've discussed on previous podcasts. But I think people that have had issues, whether with the vaccine or whatever it is, it's just such a great detox tool. So, whether they are having issues with even ingredients in the vaccine, right? There's a lot of chemicals in there, right, just like any vaccine. There's pros and cons, so it's just a great way to remove anything that's potentially building up in your system. You get some cardiovascular benefit as well from the actual Asana.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: So, if you can't get back in the gym, at least you can get your heart rate up, kind of get almost like a moderate exercise without having to get on a treadmill or bicycle, right, and ease your way back into it.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: That's a great point. That's a really great point. We know that a sauna is doing a lot of things on the longevity front, improving proteostasis, and how proteins are folded and increasing autopathy and things like that. But it is ... Your point's a great one because when people feel too weak to exercise, they can typically sit in a sauna, right, and you're getting some of the benefits of exercise, but you're not, overstressing the system. I think one of the things for us is that we always want to kind of match our exercise to our recovery scores. When you're suffering with COVID, your recovery scores are going to be low. Your heart rate variability is low. Your body is really been pretty severely stressed already. So, it's not the time to try to go for a run or do a heavy weight workout or something like that. But if you want to continue to be active, doing something where you can do a bit of balance training, where you can get in the sauna, some things like that, you sort of have this sense that I'm still keeping it going, while I allow my body to kind of recover from this. That can be kind of encouraging to you, because it could be really discouraging to be struggling with stuff like this.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah, definitely.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah. We've got people that are, they're all in, right. They're running, they're lifting, doing all sorts of stuff. Then all of a sudden they kind of get knocked down, and then when they go for a run again, even a month later, they're over it. But they notice the difference in their lungs and just overall. Right? It's very discouraging for a lot of people.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah. Agreed, and that's why we like to see those folks in the office. If the things that we're doing with the supplements aren't getting people over the hump, we like to see them back in the office, because there are things that we can do here that you can't really do at home, that we've seen really push people forward. So, using the activated PRP that we use is also another piece of it. We've seen that can be very helpful in kind of restoring lung function, cardiovascular function. There's an element of sort of rejuvenation that comes using this form of activated PRP, that we have access to with this proprietary laser. So, we feel like the long-haul COVID is actually treatable, and we feel like the effects that people may experience from the vaccine are also treatable. But sometimes it just takes a little time. Sometimes it takes time plus some supplements, and sometimes it takes time, supplements, and some we'll call them larger procedures, if you will, to actually get this done.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah, exactly. Even some peptides can be helpful, right?

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Some growth [inaudible 00:14:21] recent peptides or brain fog remains an issue, we've got some [inaudible 00:14:26], so there's different options. Then it's nice when we have, a lot of the information we know genetically, you have propensity for this or that. Right? So, when we have that information, it also helps us target, why are you possibly having this long- haul issue?

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yes.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Right?

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: That's a great point. That's a great point, because in the genetic panels that we use, we actually get a look at who's actually really susceptible to COVID if you will, in the first place? Who's more apt to end up in the ICU? Likewise, who's more apt to end up with sort of a protracted inflammatory response to the infection, if you will? Your point about the peptides is a great one, because they're very healing. But then the peptides that you're talking about for the brain can kind of help reboot people's brains also. Right? I find though, that using all these things in concert seems to get the best results, as opposed to just like, well, I'm just, I have brain fog, so I'm going to do this. You really kind of have to come at it in a systematic way to get the optimal results, is what we see. But then again, when we do this, have we had anybody that we haven't been able to help? I'm not aware of anybody, but there may be.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: I don't think so. Yeah. I don't think so.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Yeah. That's been my impression is that virtually everybody that's struggling, we can actually help them. So, yeah.

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Yeah, definitely. I think also, another thing that is important is hormones, right? So, if you're postmenopausal woman you've already got some ... It's hard enough as it is. Right? Then you throw COVID in there. So, sometimes, when we have people optimized hormonally, right, no matter what age you are, that's just to kind of set the stage to treat every, the complications. Right?

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: Exactly. Yeah. True for men as well, keeping them optimized. Yeah. There's all this infrastructure pieces, right? I mean, you never get away from sleep and-

Dr. Ernie Navarro: Right.

Dr. Jeffrey Gladden: ... eating and hormonal optimization, kind of, some of the cornerstones, if you will, of the health circles. But COVID seems to kind of extend beyond that, because it's interesting to me that it's actually driving aging. And I think to comprehensively address it, you have to address it from that point too. Well, great. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us today, Ernie, and I, hopefully this has been very helpful to the audience listening. If you have questions, feel free to reach out. We're happy to answer those, and whatever we can do to be helpful, we're happy to do it.

Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Gladden Longevity Podcast. If you would like more information on what we've discussed or other topics, please reference the show notes or go to Gladden longevitypodcast.com. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter by searching Gladden Longevity Podcast. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to get future episodes delivered to you and share our podcast or this episode with someone in your life. They may find benefit. Thank you for listening. We'll be back next week with another exciting episode.