Heat shock proteins (HSP’s) are a family of proteins which are created by cells during stressful situations. These proteins can protect the cells from situations that would normally be lethal (R).
Exercise, particularly strenuous aerobic with elevated heart-rate, also induces heat shock protein, including HSP70.
I do not think you can raise your core body temperature sufficiently by sauna or exercise to increase the rate of glycation. If you did, you would have more serious and immediate problems requiring medical attention. As a point of reference, chemical reactions take place twice as fast for every 10 degrees Celsius increase in temperature.
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Health Benefits of Heat Shock Proteins
1) Heat Shock Proteins Act As Chaperones
HSPs are also molecular chaperone proteins. Chaperone proteins monitor and help regulate the folding of proteins. Protein folding is important for their specific roles. Proteins which do not fold appropriately can trigger an immune response and a host of other issues (R).
Having too many misfolded or unfolded proteins can lead to them grouping/clumping together and lead to different diseases like Huntington’s disease. Heat shock proteins help prevent the huntingtin protein from forming aggregates by binding to the protein and forming a coat over it (R).
Ways that HSP Levels Decrease
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation can lead to a big decrease in heat shock protein levels (R).
Wine Phenolic Extracts Reduce HSP Levels
Total extracts of red wines decreased Hsp70 and Hsp27 levels and the numbers of a tumor and endothelial cells. These properties may be important in the potent anticarcinogenic (substance that inhibits the development of cancer) action of wine phenolics (a substance produced by plants to protect against plants) (R).
Ways that HSP Levels Increase
HSP numbers increase due to protein unfolding, misfolding or aggregation, as well as an increase in the production of non-native proteins in the body, whose function is to stabilize and refold proteins. Other reasons for an increase include oxidative stress, nutritional deficiencies, viral infection, some chemicals and exposure to cytokines, which are substances secreted by certain cells of the immune system that have a particular effect on cells (R).
Exercise
Some of the conditions known to elicit the cellular stress reaction are similar to those experienced by cells in response to physical exercise. Hyperthermia, ischemia, oxidative, cytokine and muscular stress, glucose deprivation, and alterations in calcium and pH are potent inducers of HSP expression in different types of cells and tissues. Both exercise and calorie restriction are forms of mild stress that temporarily enhance HSP activity (R,R).
Older patients who cannot exercise can also gain this increase in HSP since some of the effects from physical activity are caused by the temperature increase (R).
Life Stressors
•Infection (R)
•Inflammation (R)
•UV (R)
•Exposure of the cell to toxins (ethanol, arsenic, trace metals, among many others) (R)
•Starvation (R)
•Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) (R)
•Water deprivation (R)
Supplements to Increase HSP70
•Broccoli sprouts/Sulforaphane (R)
•Extra Virgin Olive Oil (R)
•Sauna
•Zinc (R)
•Curcumin (R)
•Blueberry (R)
•Colostrum (R)
•Lion’s Mane (R)
•Graviola (R), Lavender Essential Oil (R), Certain Artemesia extracts (R), Celastrol (R),
9 CONCLUSION
Photobiomodulation exposure to visible and IR-A light which emulates the conditions of natural sunlight in wavelength, intensity, and dosage can be beneficial to the skin. Such light exposure might even pre-condition the skin, preparing it for upcoming (mid-day zenithal) UVR insults. On the other hand, exposure to artificial IR-A radiation of too broad of a range and intensity/dose can contribute to existing detrimental effects or cause negative effects of its own (increased MMP-1). Several studies (2, 13, 14, 43, 49, 51-55) demonstrate the damaging effects of IR-A radiation in the skin both in vitro and in vivo. However, they use high-intensity artificial IR-A light sources that do not reproduce real life daily sun exposure. The IR-A emitted by the sun and reaching the skin is not of such high intensity. Some investigators even suggest the development of sunscreens protecting against IR-A. Such claims are irrelevant for consumers and medical professionals because the assessment of IR-A-induced damage evidenced at a physiologically realistic intensity is a pre-requisite. Yet, it has been shown that at realistic irradiances/doses, IR-A radiation has beneficial effects on collagen metabolism and upcoming UVR damage. Similar to PBM parameters, daily IR-A sun exposure delivers a much lower irradiance and fluence (dose) than powerful artificial sources (760-1450 nm).
One could therefore assume that early morning “sun salutation” (surya namaskar) and late afternoon procrastination on the beach are actually natural PBM treatments to prevent and repair, respectively. Consequently, if your shadow is taller than you are (in the early morning and late afternoon) you’re taking advantage of the beneficial effects of IR-A while avoiding peak (Zenithal) harmful UVR [60, 61]. Ultimately, it is another way of being sun smart.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4745411/
IR-A might even precondition the skin – a process called photoprevention – from an evolutionary standpoint since exposure to early morning IR-A wavelengths in sunlight may ready the skin for the coming mid-day deleterious UVR.
Consequently IR-A appears to be the solution, not the problem. It does more good than bad for the skin. It is essentially a question of intensity and how we can learn from the sun.
“This is a great example of how a person can theoretically use hyperthermic conditioning to increase their own heat shock proteins and thereby reap the rewards,” including for muscle growth and more, according to Dr. Patrick. Also exciting, exposure to heat has been shown to increase lifespan (by up to 15 percent) in flies and worms, a benefit that is attributed to HSPs. One particular HSP (the HSP70 gene) has also been associated with increased longevity, which suggests there may be anti-aging benefits to regular heat stress.11
8 J Sci Med Sport. 2007 Aug;10(4):259-62.
9 Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1989;58(5):543-50.
10 J Appl Physiol (1985). 2007 Apr;102(4):1702-7.
11 FourHourWorkweek.com April 10, 2014
Location:US
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Interesting new study that came out a few months ago:
Men who had 4-7 sauna sessions benefited even more; they were at 63% lower risk of sudden cardiac death, 48% lower risk of CHD death, 50% lower risk of CVD death and were 40% less likely to die from all causes, compared with those who had one sauna session a week.
Longer sauna duration was also associated with lower risk of fatal CHD and fatal CVD, though it did not appear to affect the risk of all-cause mortality.
We know that exposure to heat induces the production of heat shock proteins (HSPs), which play a major role in ensuring correct protein folding in the cell.
There is some very intriguing evidence linking HSPs to longevity ([1] [2] [3]).
The production of heat-shock proteins declines with age in all species that have been observed.
Resveratrol induces production of heat-shock proteins, which may account for some of its biological effects).
We also know that caloric restriction (CR) reverses the age-related decline in the production of heat-shock protein hsp70, at least in rats … which, if true for humans, may account for some of the biological effects of caloric restriction. (Blueberries also seem to have some interesting effects with regard to inducing hsp70 response … again, at least in rats).
All this leads me to wonder:
•To what extent do saunas increase production of heat-shock proteins, and what duration of sauna therapy is required to produce optimal results?
•Does sauna therapy significantly increase the rate of glycation? Given that the Maillard reaction generally requires heat, and that the body generates heat-shock proteins in response this stress, it’s clear that the body believes that heating is not a good thing.
•Is there an optimal temperature for inducing heat-shock proteins without inducing glycation, and if so, how close are saunas to that optimal temperature?
•Also, do different types of saunas (infrared, “dry” saunas, and steam saunas) have significantly different effects on these factors?
4 The healing power of IR
4.1 NIR (Near infrared)
It has been known for almost 50 years that low energy exposure to visible and NIR wavelengths is beneficial to humans via the promotion of healing processes. This low level light therapy (so called LLLT or PBM) has been reported in thousands of peer reviewed articles since 1968 [28, 29]. Using specific low energy (non-thermal) light parameters within a window of wavelengths from visible to NIR, PBM provides an alternative therapy for patients needing faster healing of wounds and/or for anti-inflammatory purposes. It has been compared to plant photosynthesis with a known photoacceptor molecule (cytochrome c oxidase) located in the mitochondria of eucaryotic cells.
PBM parameters have been improving in the last decade so that it is now part of our therapeutic armamentarium in dermatology as a complimentary treatment modality to treat skin inflammation, promote faster wound healing after ablative procedures or even prevent sunburn [30]. It is also used as a photodynamic therapy light source to photoactivate a photosynthetizer (Protoporphyrin IX or PpIX) when treating actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma and acne [31]. Furthermore, low intensity infrared has been shown to induce beta-endorphin hypoalgesic (analgesic) effects [32].
NIR photobiomodulation of tissue pathologies is associated with increased proliferation of specific cells, gene expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines and suppression of the synthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators [33].
4.2 FIR (Far infrared)
Another sub-division of IR radiation (far infrared, FIR, 3-25 μm), has also been observed to stimulate cells and tissue in both in vitro and in vivo studies [34]. Moreover FIR therapy is considered a promising treatment modality for certain medical conditions [35]. Technological advances have provided new techniques for delivering FIR radiation to the human body. Specialty lamps [36] and saunas [37], delivering pure FIR radiation (eliminating completely the near and mid infrared bands), have became safe, effective, and widely used sources to generate therapeutic effects. Fibers impregnated with FIR emitting ceramic nanoparticles and woven into fabrics, are being used as garments and wraps to generate FIR radiation powered by the body-heat of the wearer, and these garments provide diverse benefits to health [38, 39].
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5 PBM mechanism of action
Although skin is naturally exposed to light more than any other organ, it still responds well to red and near-infrared radiation [29]. A better understanding of the mechanism of action will direct clinicians in their treatment approach.
The cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of PBM have become reasonably well-understood in recent years and are summarized in Figure 4.
fig ft0fig mode=article f1
fig/graphic|fig/alternatives/graphic mode=”anchored” m1
8 DISCUSSION
8.1 Dose-dependent effects
The effects of visible & NIR wavelengths are dose-dependent. This is analogous to the beneficial long-term health effect of drinking a glass of red wine a day as opposed to the detrimental effect of drinking a whole bottle a day once a week. Visible & NIR comprise approximately 45-50% of the sun’s emission spectrum respectively. However, when compared to UVR (2-3% of the sun’s spectrum) their relative potency (ionizing radiation) is relatively low. Hence, we did not pay attention to the effect of NIR on the skin until recently. Several studies showed that NIR may damage skin collagen content via an increase in MMP-1 activity in the same manner as is known for UVR. Unfortunately, the artificial NIR light sources used in such studies were not representative of the solar irradiance [50]. Schauberger et al. (2004) published a method to evaluate how spectral irradiances from artificial sources compare to solar irradiance. The method, although proposed for UVR, can logically be extended and applied to other wavebands [51]. According to the Grotthus–Draper law only 10–12% of incident irradiance is absorbed in the dermis in vivo. This causes additional difficulties in the correlation of the in vitro experimental situation to in vivo conditions [52]. In this respect, the irradiance used in vitro is equivalent to an incident irradiance at the skin surface (in vivo) of between 210 and 300 mW/cm2 [50], which would cause a marked warming of the tissue resulting in heat pain if a “large” area of skin were to be exposed. Another discrepancy between the in vitro & in vivo situation becomes even greater when considering the effective dissipation of absorbed energy through blood flow in vivo and the fact that the solar IR-A irradiance is generally much less, due to smaller solar elevation angles before and after noon and during seasons other than summer [52]. Thus, the irradiance used in the in vitro experiments showing IR deleterious effects must be considered to be unnaturally high. Actually, the effects observed are most likely thermal effects (due to the increased temperature of the cells), which are not related to specific properties of IR-A radiation.
Chronic sun exposure is chiefly responsible for long term clinical skin changes such as photoaging and skin cancers [53]. These effects have been mostly attributed to the detrimental impact of ultra-violet (UV) radiation involving a combination of UVB (280–320 nm) and UVA (320–400 nm) wavelengths. In order to experimentally assess the effects of solar UV, standard UV spectra have been defined, particularly in the sunscreen industry. These emission spectra represent extreme solar UV exposure conditions with a quasi zenithal sun irradiance, representative of a high UVB level [54]. However, the solar spectrum reaching Earth depends on many parameters including latitude, season, meteorological conditions, ozone layer thickness, and particularly on time of day. Therefore, zenithal sun exposure conditions, corresponding to summer sunlight at noon in the tropics, are rarely found [53]. Thus, studies using extreme conditions with artificial NIR light sources reporting deleterious effects on the skin, would not appropriately reflect real life conditions of daily sun exposure.
To assess more realistic full solar exposure conditions, including visible and IR-A wavelengths, non-zenithal sun spectral irradiance should be used. Such spectra have been calculated and published by the CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage) [55]. Later, the CIE withdrew the publication because more recent and accurate solar spectral irradiance data became accessible. These are now freely available from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory website [56].
Exposure to visible and IR-A light can be beneficial to the skin depending on the right combination of wavelength, fluence, and irradiance. Produced by natural sunlight at certain times of the day, these favorable conditions may prepare the skin for the deleterious effects of the mid-day UVR.
We are comparing apples and oranges in terms of the irradiance from water-filtered artificial IRA light sources versus natural IR-A emitted by the sun. In most studies, the Hydrosun 500 used was set for high irradiances [14, 17, 57]. Additional studies utilized a pulsed high peak power broadband (IPL) from Cutera [8, 9] and an Infrared-300 by Daekyoung [7] with an unnaturally high power density (irradiance).
These irradiances were incredibly high since beyond 100 mW/cm2, tissue hyperthermia occurs with possible induction of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression in the dermis [11]. Such data needs to be reconciled with the in vivo experimental data that supports the salutary effects of NIR photobiomodulation in murine wound healing [58]. Of course, irradiation using lasers focused at specific wavelengths, typically at the shorter end of the IRA spectrum, could be expected to result in different genes being expressed as compared to those genes expressed as a result of exposure to light from IR-A lamps emitting light spanning the entire IR-A spectrum. The transcriptome differences at different specific IR-A wavelengths would be an interesting subject for further study. However on balance, it is most likely that the reported conflicting effects of IR-A on the skin are principally connected with the well-known biphasic dose-response curves that have been observed in practically every aspect of photobiomodulation [26, 59]. Fluences in the range of tens of J/cm2 are likely to be protective and overall beneficial to the skin, while fluences in the range of hundreds of J/cm2 are likely to be damaging and overall deleterious to the skin. The same would apply for irradiance parameters.
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9 CONCLUSION
Photobiomodulation exposure to visible and IR-A light which emulates the conditions of natural sunlight in wavelength, intensity, and dosage can be beneficial to the skin. Such light exposure might even pre-condition the skin, preparing it for upcoming (mid-day zenithal) UVR insults. On the other hand, exposure to artificial IR-A radiation of too broad of a range and intensity/dose can contribute to existing detrimental effects or cause negative effects of its own (increased MMP-1). Several studies (2, 13, 14, 43, 49, 51-55) demonstrate the damaging effects of IR-A radiation in the skin both in vitro and in vivo. However, they use high-intensity artificial IR-A light sources that do not reproduce real life daily sun exposure. The IR-A emitted by the sun and reaching the skin is not of such high intensity. Some investigators even suggest the development of sunscreens protecting against IR-A. Such claims are irrelevant for consumers and medical professionals because the assessment of IR-A-induced damage evidenced at a physiologically realistic intensity is a pre-requisite. Yet, it has been shown that at realistic irradiances/doses, IR-A radiation has beneficial effects on collagen metabolism and upcoming UVR damage. Similar to PBM parameters, daily IR-A sun exposure delivers a much lower irradiance and fluence (dose) than powerful artificial sources (760-1450 nm).
One could therefore assume that early morning “sun salutation” (surya namaskar) and late afternoon procrastination on the beach are actually natural PBM treatments to prevent and repair, respectively. Consequently, if your shadow is taller than you are (in the early morning and late afternoon) you’re taking advantage of the beneficial effects of IR-A while avoiding peak (Zenithal) harmful UVR [60, 61]. Ultimately, it is another way of being sun smart.
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