A couple weeks ago I spent a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday taking a course in brain chemistry. This covered everything from basic anatomy to neurological evaluation to the impact of gut inflammation on the brain to various things that impact brain function. It was rather intensive and could easily have been offered as a 200-hour course instead of a 22-hour course, but basic vital concepts got across.
The course was taught by a functional neurologist. Functional neurology is a new field. Traditional neurology is all about diagnosing a problem, but stops there. Neurologists don’t actually do anything once they complete their diagnosis. A neurologic diagnosis is like a death sentence – they believe that whatever they find, you are stuck with till you die. Functional neurology, on the other hand, uses the brain’s ability to form new pathways to work around problems and restore function to the neurological patient.
Many tantalizing bits of information about this amazing field were dropped during the seminar, even though the focus of this 3-day weekend was on brain chemistry. We were fortunate enough to see a little bit of this field in action when one of the seminar participants revealed that he had had a brainstem stroke a few months earlier. He had developed several significant neurological problems, like the inability to touch one finger to his nose then to the finger of the examiner. Amazingly, with just a couple minutes work during the breaks, the neurological difficulties this fellow had left over from his stroke were almost completely resolved by day three.
Yet in spite of the advanced therapies this neurologist had at his disposal, he was teaching us that before any of this type of work can be done, the basics of the chemistry of the brain have to be addressed first. It didn’t matter if we were dealing with a stroke patient, an Alzheimer’s patient, or someone with acute brain trauma. The same basic issues have to be addressed first. For most people, the basics are enough to resolve their symptoms.
What are the basics? Every brain needs certain things to function all the time. Every brain needs oxygen – good blood flow and good blood in that flow. Every brain needs a steady food supply – either glucose or ketones. Every brain needs various minerals, vitamins, proteins, fatty acids, and other cofactors to function all the time. Every brain needs hormones like thyroid, progesterone, and testosterone. The brain needs to be kept safe from poisons and inflammation and needs to be safe from attacks by the immune system. And lastly, every brain needs stimulation; it needs nerve transmission input from the joints, muscles, organs, skin, and senses to fire the signals that make the brain work.
Remember those old corny monster movies that had a brain sitting in a jar of water all by itself waiting to be transplanted into a new body? Well now we know that it does not work that way. If you remove a brain from all the nervous input from the body, it degenerates rather quickly. The flip side of this understanding is that to keep our brain young and healthy, we need to send the brain lots of input every day. Physical activity is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your brain. Mentally challenging tasks that are new – like learning a new language are also good, but not as good as simple vigorous exercise.
So what are the first priorities for any neurological case?
Number one: The brain has to be able to make energy to do anything. This means…
No anemia or blood flow problems.
No blood sugar dysglycemia problems.
No thyroid hormone problems.
No vitamin/mineral deficiencies that interfere with energy production.
Number two: Nothing poisoning or attacking the brain. This means…
No autoimmune disease, leaky gut, or other type of infection.
No heavy metal poisoning, chemical poisoning, or sugar poisoning.
No inflammation from any cause – leaky blood /brain barrier.
Number three: The brain needs the basic nutrients, proteins, fats, and hormones to build new brain pathways. This means…
No vitamin / mineral / cofactor deficiencies or overloads.
No hormone deficiencies.
No neurotransmitter substrate or fatty acid deficiencies.
Once these three areas are covered, then the fancy neurological evaluation and functional brain rebuilding may be appropriate. Well, all us functional medicine trained Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, and Nutritionists have the tools to address these three basic areas. That means we can address the driving force behind most neurological conditions. If we can address them early enough, we may be able to prevent many of them from ever becoming a problem.
The big issue here is that most people don’t consider addressing neurological conditions until it is way too late. They wait until they can’t find their way home a few times, or until after they already have bad balance and a stooped posture. Most neurological issues actually begin 20 years before the serious symptoms occur. For instance, the earliest sign of dementia is a loss of the sense of smell on one or both sides. This sign might appear 10 to 20 years before any dementia is recognized.
To check for anemia and blood sugar dysregulation, here is a list of the early signs you can check for yourself. The first things we look at are:
Anemia
Do you fatigue easily or have a loss of energy?
Do you have unusually rapid heart beat, esp. w/ exercise?
Shortness of breath and headache especially w/ exercise?
Do you have difficulty concentrating?
Do you have dizziness?
Do you have pale skin/ gums/ nail beds?
Do you get leg cramps?
Do you have insomnia?
Iron deficiency
Do you hunger for strange things like paper, dirt, or ice?
Do your nails have an upward spoon like curvature?
Is your mouth sore w/cracks at the corners?
B12 deficiency
Do you have tingling pins and needles in hands or feet?
Any loss of your sense of touch?
Is your gait wobbly or do you have difficulty walking?
Clumsiness and stiffness of the arms and legs?
Do you have hallucinations, paranoia, or schizophrenia?
Do you have dementia?
Chronic blood loss
Do you have jaundice (yellow skin or whites of eyes)?
Is your urine brown or red?
Do you have leg ulcers?
Do you have heavy menstrual periods?
Do you have hemorrhoids, bloody, or tarry stools?
Blood Sugar Fluctuation
Do you get irritable, shaky, or have lightheadedness between meals?
Do you feel energized after eating?
Do you have difficulty eating large meals in the morning?
Does your energy level drop in the afternoon?
Do you crave sugar and sweets in the afternoon?
Do you wake up in the middle of the night?
Do you have difficulty concentrating before eating?
Do you depend on coffee to keep yourself going?
Do you feel agitated, get easily upset, or nervous between meals?
Insulin Resistance
Do you get fatigued after meals?
Do you crave sugar and sweets after meals?
Do you feel you need stimulants such as coffee after meals?
Do you have difficulty losing weight?
Is your waist girth equal to or larger than your hip girth?
Do you have frequent urination?
Has your thirst and appetite been increased?
Do you still have sugar cravings after eating sweets?
Do you have weight gain when under stress?
Do you have difficulty falling asleep?
If you answer yes to any of these questions as occasionally or frequently true, then you may have issues that need to be addressed to protect your brain from trouble either currently or down the road. Anemia is confirmed with a simple blood test. Similarly we can use blood chemistries to check for dysglycemia.
Fortunately a while back I signed up with a special group that enables me to get lab work done at a huge discount. Most tests I order will cost 70% less than what you would spend at your local hospital. The catch is that to get this price the tests have to be paid for up front – no billing to insurance. But since health insurance generally does not cover preventative health lab work, we end up having to pay out of pocket anyway.
So if you have any yes answers to any of the above questions, please let me know the next time you are in so we can pursue it further.
Take care,
David