This week on On the way with Chom hosted by superstar Chompoo Araya, we meet “Dr. Tan – Dr. Thani Thaniwan”, a specialist in lung disease, critical care, and lung transplants, who shares his knowledge about breathing in PM 2.5 into the lungs like taking in toxic substances waiting to die! Which stimulates all kinds of serious diseases, NAD can repair the body and reverse the aging of cells, but at the cost of the chance of getting cancer? And can IF really increase NAD?
Today, let’s talk about PM2.5 and how it can make us sick. Nowadays, no matter where we go, we have to check the weather conditions, we have to check the dust levels too. Doctor, did you live in America before? How was it there?
Dr. Tan: Over there, the AQI is at 1 or 2 where I live. It only goes up when there are forest fires. Other than that, the air is clean. It’s different from when I come to Thailand. When I get off the plane, my family feels like they can breathe normally because they’re used to Thailand’s AQI. But when I get off the plane, I feel like my eyes are blurry or that breathing is strange. But it’s not like that. It turns out that the dust value is higher, and I’m not used to it.
It has become a seasonal thing, PM2.5 in our country. When winter comes, there must be this kind of phenomenon. What could it be coming from?
Dr. Tan: It comes from our normal lifestyles. For example, if we are in a household and cooking, smoke is created, which is also PM2.5. Cars, of course, everyone knows that. When we drive, exhaust pipes come out, which are also PM2.5. Smoking cigarettes, whether they are real cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or whatever, can cause PM2.5. In the provinces, it is in places where they burn fields or something like that. Anything that can create smoke.
PM 2.5 is a carrier that brings substances into the body. In addition to feeling allergic, having sore eyes, or having a cold, is there anything more dangerous than this?
Dr. Tan: There are a lot. Let me explain first that PM2.5 is different in each place. It depends on the source. For example, some sources in Bangkok have cars and things like that, so there will be heavy metals as a component. But if there is burning, burning trees, what happens is usually a lot of what we call hydrocarbons. So the components will not be the same. But no matter what the component is, it is harmful to many things in our bodies.
In this case, people who work in the middle of PM2.5 all the time accumulate these substances in their bodies. What can happen then?
Dr. Tan: PM2.5, if inhaled, will enter the deep bronchi of the lungs. At the end of the bronchi are the air sacs. Around the air sacs are capillaries to allow gas exchange. But since there are capillaries wrapped around the air sacs, dust that enters there can penetrate into our blood vessels. And our blood vessels can spread throughout our body, right? That means dust can spread to all parts of our body.
But in reality, I have to say that there are some things in the body that help prevent dust from entering our bodies. One part is the mucous membrane in our body that filters some of it. From the nasal hairs to the end of the trachea, there are cells called macrophages. These are cells that capture and eat foreign substances. One of them is PM2.5. But if it captures too much, it cannot destroy the dust. It cannot capture it fast enough, like when we fill up a lot of trash like this, it will cause inflammation in the body. And the dust that cannot be captured fast enough will enter the bloodstream and then spread everywhere.
When it spreads somewhere, it causes inflammation there, right?
Dr. Tan: If we trace it to the organs, it can cause any disease. For example, the brain is related to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It also plays a part. Slow thinking with age is sometimes not just about age. It may be related to PM2.5. If it’s about blood vessel and heart disease, because PM2.5 causes inflammation. When blood vessels become inflamed, there will be various problems. For example, if we have coronary artery disease, I have to say that if we are in an area with a lot of dust, it’s like we’re smoking all the time.
I heard that it can cause genes or genetics to mutate, is that right?
Dr. Tan: Of course, because when there is a lot of inflammation, our body cannot repair it in time. When it cannot repair in time, our DNA sometimes mutates and causes various types of cancer. Many people may think that it is only lung cancer because it is related to breathing. But actually, as I said, it enters our bloodstream and the bloodstream goes throughout the body, which means that it can cause cancer in other places. But when they encounter it, for example, breast cancer in women, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, which are not even close to the lungs. We don’t breathe and it goes to the breasts.
So why was he able to trace back the cancer to PM2.5?
Dr. Tan: We went to look at the areas where there was a difference between PM2.5 and the areas where there was none. We found that the areas where there was more of it had more of these cancers. This is one part of it. Sometimes they do an autopsy to see what these cancers are in there. They find something in there that makes them wonder if there is a connection.
Why does it like to come in as winter approaches?
Dr. Tan: It has many aspects. There is a word called temperature inversion. Normally, during the winter, when the sun shines during the day, it is hot. But at night, it cools down quickly. When it cools down quickly, the layer of heat near the surface starts to rise. It will slowly rise. It will not float away at all. It will remain floating somewhere. The temperature below will be cold. When the temperature below is cold and the temperature above is hot, it is like a box that collects all the dust. When the dust floats and encounters heat, it will hit it but cannot pass through the heat. So it will hit it and go to the side. This condition occurs more often in winter.
Staying in a dust-free house?
Dr. Tan: It depends on what we do with our house. I would recommend that the appropriate investment for our house would be an air filter. But the air filter depends on where we are where there is a lot of fresh air coming in. If we are in front of a window, there will be a lot of fresh air coming in, so it cannot be purified in time. But we can’t not turn it on because it will be old air. We already know that if the air doesn’t circulate well, there will be various problems later. During the day, we sometimes turn it on to let the fresh air in. But after that, we turn it off and use the air filter again.
Or sometimes we have to clean the house because some people use only a vacuum cleaner, it’s not very good. Because when vacuuming, the dust will fly. We may have to use water to wash the dust on the floor first. Because if we sweep or use a vacuum cleaner, sometimes it will fly. The vacuum cleaner doesn’t come out to collect PM2.5 dust. Sometimes it only collects large dust or hair. This dust can slip through the filter. It’s difficult, but we can’t avoid it. So we try to use the secondary method, which is to check for dust before leaving the house. If there is a lot of dust on a day, we have to wear a mask that can block some dust.
Is there any way to help detoxify PM2.5 that has settled in our lungs?
Dr. Tan: That’s possible. Suppose we reduce the amount of dust that enters our bodies, then we find a way to expel it faster. One way that we can do that is by making ourselves sweat, such as if we go to exercise. But that doesn’t mean we can’t exercise in the middle of dust. It could be in a gym or at home. If we sweat, sometimes we expel something through sweat. Or going to a sauna or anything that makes us hotter, soaking in hot water is possible.
Are there any supplements that can help detoxify your lungs?
Dr. Tan: To be honest, there isn’t any. There really isn’t any food that can really detoxify. But what we can do, we know that it causes inflammation in the body, makes our cells mutate, makes our cells age. We can go and fix this. There are both natural and unnatural methods. I think everyone knows nature well, such as exercising. It stimulates the immune system to eliminate these things faster and stronger. Of course, our immune system can fight foreign substances better. Getting enough rest reduces various inflammations in the body. Being with nature.
Avoid problem foods. Everyone already knows what foods are good for the body. PM2.5 is much scarier than everyone thinks. It can also make you age faster because it accelerates the mutation process of these cells and causes cell problems. If there is a lot of inflammation, you will age faster. If it is not a natural method, they will start to look at whether there is a mechanism for us to deal with inflammation in the body. Some people try to think that apart from food, do supplements have a part? Or will going to do various methods in the clinic or according to anti-aging medicine help? I must say that these methods have not been proven to work for sure. But there are theoretical ideas that they might.
Now, most of the research is still about mice, right, doctor?
Dr. Tan: It has already started in humans, but we can’t say for sure that it’s good. For example, this science was used to reverse aging first. It started with Dr. David Sinclair who discovered a gene related to aging and then he tried to make this gene work better. Another method is by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka who was the first to discover a way to reverse aging of cells and it really worked. But that day, it required 4 genes, 1 of which was a cancer gene. Now, Dr. Shinya used it. He didn’t want the cancer gene. He wanted only 3 genes. We had to improve the remaining genes a bit because if we use this method to reverse aging, we can’t determine when it will reverse. For example, if we reverse aging to 40 years old and it becomes 0 years old, we have to determine that we want to reverse 5 years, not more than that.
Let the doctor explain why people want to inject NAD?
Dr. Tan: NAD is a derivative or a friend of vitamin B3. This substance is already present in our body. It is involved in creating energy for every cell in the body. Every cell that needs energy must use this substance as well. But it does not only have the function of creating energy, it also has the function of working with others to repair damaged cells or cells that have abnormal DNA to help our energy production plant or mitochondria create or produce because if the plant is old, it is not very good. We help it create a new one and reduce inflammation. It is almost everything that it can help. The problem is that it will be highest at the age of 25-30 years. After that, it will gradually decrease. For example, at the age of 50, it will decrease to half of the peak of the period when people are at their peak. So, I think that is why it causes our body to have various problems with age because it decreases continuously. And if we add it, will it solve various problems, deterioration of the body or diseases that come with age, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, brain, etc.
Besides age, are there any other factors that cause NAD to decline more rapidly?
Dr. Tan: As I said, NAD must be combined with other things to perform certain functions. For example, if we are exposed to PM2.5 every day, our bodies are inflamed all the time. There are problems with our cells and they need to be repaired. In the process of repairing these cells, it must work together with other things, such as the PARP enzyme, which will tell us that these cells are abnormal. It’s like putting a sticker on them and NAD must come in. Now, if there are a lot of these damaged cells, if they are exposed to light and a lot of PM2.5, they will need to use more and more NAD. Those who are exposed to a lot will use a lot, so it will decrease quickly. Those who are exposed to a little, are not stressed, and do not encounter PM2.5, may not need to use a lot.
So how can we replenish NAD in our bodies?
Dr. Tan: The most direct way to inject it into the body is by injecting it. It is one way, but the problem with injections is that there are many possible side effects because they can have short-term side effects. Some side effects are theoretical, but one of the scary theoretical side effects is cancer. If someone has cancer in their body, cancer is a cell that uses a lot of energy. If they take a substance that increases the energy of the cancer, it may grow. This is only a theory. It has not been proven. Therefore, we still cannot answer whether it will actually happen or not. But another short-term problem is that if while injecting, we accidentally inject a high dose or inject it too quickly, people who are very sensitive to these things, such as people who are underweight like Asians, not big Westerners, will have a lot of side effects, such as headaches, heart palpitations, red face, red body, cramps in the body. Some people feel like they are going to die and cannot breathe. We have experienced this before. Many people who have injected it have experienced this. But the second time, they will not inject it again.
What interesting new research is there on NAD right now?
Dr. Tan: Now, Dr. David Sinclair is trying to use it in diseases, not in ordinary people. We already know that ordinary people want to turn back the clock, but in diseases, when NAD has to be corrected from the disease and degeneration, he really wants to use it for experiments, such as lung fibrosis. He is currently experimenting with it, but we have to wait for the results first. He will try it in people with nerve damage because it is damaged due to degeneration, in part. If we fix this, will it go back to the way it was?
So can we increase NAD naturally?
Dr. Tan: Of course, going back to the basics, exercise definitely helps. Food: Currently, the best food is a balanced diet that emphasizes vegetables and rest because if we spend all day using energy and don’t rest at all, NAD will continue to be used up.
I saw that it was said that IF can also increase NAD?
Dr. Tan: It is part of it. IF is a way of telling us that we currently have no energy to replenish our body. We are fasting. When we have no energy, our body tries to store everything. There are many processes to store these substances. One of them is the body’s lean process. If we have a lot of energy, we can use it to do anything. But if we have a limited amount, our body has to use up old things. For example, we have old cells that don’t really have a function. It’s better to just break them down and create new ones that are better. NAD is also involved in this process.
