Q: alzheimers prevention

[Guest guest]

Hi ,This is a great question and probably could have a dissertation dedicated to the topic. I will be speaking about brain injury and alternative treatments at the Brain Injury Association of Oregon's annual conference in a few weeks time so I am current on this topic. I am familiar with this topic because there is a lot of research pointing to traumatic brain injury (TBI) correlating (or possibly causing) Alzheimer's later in life. There are a number of factors here so let me see if I can go through this in a way that makes sense. As I do, keep in mind that there are many things that one can do to help prevent problems if you follow a drainage model because everything is connected. There are approximately 1.5 -3.6 million TBIs in the US every year (1.5 million we know as those are reported but the CDC suspects that number to be double.) That's one every 23 seconds. To put that in perspective that's 6 times the number of breast cancer, HIV, MS and spinal cord injuries diagnoses in the US every year. And a brain injury doesn't require one to actually hit their heads. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have been near roadside bombs exhibit TBI symptoms. Several soldiers who killed themselves were autopsied and their 20-something year old brains looked like 80-year old advanced Alzheimer brains. The unfortunate situation is that many people have had TBIs but don't realize it has happened and the medical community has been poorly educated in this matter as most practitioners do not realize that a mild concussion is a form of TBI. (1)TBI is very common and more importantly it affects the entire body. When injured, the brain released pro-inflammatory cytokines that circulate through the body causing damage in different organ systems. What was interesting to me in doing research for my talk is that depending upon the age of the TBI recipient, different organ systems are effected. A TBI before the age of 2 doubles the chance of ADD/ADHD (2). In my mind, this relates to kidney energy. Four years olds with TBI are at greatly increased risk of acute pancreatitis (3) and in many cases have died from that as opposed to the TBI. Older adults I have treated had heart and GI issues leading me to believe that the head trauma uncovered an underlying weakness. On the other hand, many people experience depression 6-18 months post TBI which I believe is associated with changes in gut flora. (4). These imbalances I believe don't necessarily repair themselves on their own and create other problems such as anxiety, insomnia, and depression. (As an aside I think the timing of the events to the age correlate to the star diagram that Dr. Thom talks about. Kidney/Adrenals being 0-2, pancreas 4 etc. ) In studies of people who receive many blows to the head, their changes of Alzheimer's are greatly increased. NFL players are at a 16 times greater risk and NHL players 5x greater risk. Soccer players are between 3 and 7 times greater risk depending upon their position played. There is also evidence that these populations also have higher levels of heavy metal toxicity (particularly lead) (5) which can also be a risk factor for Alzheimer's. Low vitamin D levels are being implicated with Alzheimer's. And another factor related to both Alzheimer's and TBI is chronic sleep loss. (6) For me, I combine drainage, BTGs and neurofeedback (which has been shown to be neuroprotective) to help patients and although there are no definitive studies on the matter, we believe that it is preventing Alzheimer's as there are studies to show that it slows the progression of the disease. What you are doing now is great and I would add Vitamin D (after checking levels), magnesium and fish oil as all help the brain. (Probiotics, vitamin D and progesterone are an experimental methodology in treating acute TBI and are showing great results thus far. Not sure how the progesterone fits in yet.) Drainage should work on getting any lead or heavy metals out of the body as well. Ask about any head trauma and see if you can determine the age. Ask about sports, falls, accidents, abuse or if his parents may have been rough with him. There is some evidence that the Brain Injury Association is putting together showing how a non-lethal form of shaken baby syndrome can cause brain trauma in a young child. (A baby's head is sort of like a bowling ball on a match stick). And Loreen's ideas are wonderful as well. I think that keeping the brain stimulated is very important. I am always happy to consult with you or your patient about how neurofeedback may help. Hope that helps. Gil(1)McMaster University. "Concussions Not Taken Seriously Enough, Researcher Finds."ScienceDaily 18 January 2010. 18 February 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100118001721.htm>(2) T Keenan, Gillian C Hall, W Marshall Early head injury and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: retrospective cohort study BMJ (2008). 337:a1984(3) de Toledo J, Adelson PD, RS, Gaines B, Brown SD, Kochanek PM, Wisniewski SR, Fink E, Bayır H, RS, Bell MJ. Relationship Between Increases in Pancreatic Enzymes and Cerebral Events in Children After Traumatic Brain Injury.Neurocrit Care. 2009 Aug 11(4)Hang CH, Shi JX, Li JS, Wu W, Yin HX. Alterations of intestinal mucosa structure and barrier function following traumatic brain injury in rats.World J Gastroenterol. 2003 Dec;9(12):2776-81. (This is one of many to show this to be true. There are several human studies as well but this appears to show some of the possible mechanisms.) (5) http://healthfullife.umdnj.edu/archives/LeadAlz_archive.htm Several case studies show that lead exposure may double risk of Alzheimer's. (6)Altena et al. Reduced Orbitofrontal and Parietal Gray Matter in Chronic Insomnia: A Voxel-Based Morphometric Study. Biological Psychiatry, 2010; 67 (2): 182 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.08.003 Gil Winkelman, ND, MA CounselingNaturopathic PhysicianInsights To Health LLC2929 SW Multnomah Blvd Suite 302Portland, OR 97219ph. email:drgwinkelman@...http://www.insightstohealth.net