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Parkinson's

Dairy and Your Brain; Quit it Before You Lose It

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Dairy and brain health
oraziopuccio / Dollar Photo Club

There are times that I think that maybe I’m off base when it comes to my dislike for dairy products and my recommendation to avoid it.

After all, the recommendation to have at least 3 servings of dairy daily is firmly entrenched in just about every public health recommendation since, well like…forever.  And the commercials that you hear just about every day make it sound like milk, cheese and yogurt will make you grow tall and strong and lift small SUVs without breaking a sweat or pulling a hamstring.

(Not quite sure where the “strong teeth and muscles” comes from—don’t think I have ever come across any study ever that evaluates this relationship—I’m pretty sure it’s purely a marketing ploy)

The belief that dairy is so an essential component of good health is so strong that many patients feel embarrassed or ashamed that they don’t take in the necessary servings, all the time confident that their bones are pretty much melting into sludge.

But where did all this come from??  Who’s the first one to look at a cow’s udder dangling there and think…”Hey!!  I’ve gotta get me some of THAT!!?

I know I’ve asked this hypothetical question before, but how would you react if you saw a teenager walk up to mom and start nursing?  I’m guessing you’d be appalled and disgusted, but this action is actually be somewhat more acceptable because at least mom would be the same species.  Try to name another mammal that continues to drink mom’s milk after it’s weaned.  You can’t because there isn’t one.

There’s only one real answer as to why we continue to believe that dairy is a health food.  Marketing.  REALLY, REALLY good marketing.

That the only logical answer because it sure as heck ain’t coming from solid research.  (Just in case you think that I’m making this up, feel free to browse through my well-referenced eBook on the evils of dairy by clicking here)

And while dairy has been linked to obesity, diabetes, poor bone health as well as prostate and ovarian cancer, I don’t know that I’ve come across any studies linking dairy consumption and brain damage.

At least, not until now.

But before that, a brief primer on Parkinson’s disease…

Parkinson’s disease is a condition where the brain cells in a certain area of the brain have died off to the point where they can no longer do their job.  Specifically, the dopamine-producing cells in a region of the brain called the substantia nigra die off over time until they can no longer produce enough dopamine to suppress muscle movement.  That’s where the resting tremor comes from—the substantia nigra is not producing enough dopamine to apply the brakes on the muscular system with it’s at rest.

It is estimated that, at the time of diagnosis, those with Parkinson’s have lost 70% of these brain cells.  Don’t know about you, but that sounds like a LOT of brain cells to lose in any one region.

With this in mind, let’s go back to this particular study.  In it, researchers looked at the brains of a group of 449 men (aged 45-68) who had been living in Hawaii to determine how well new nerve cells were being produced in the substantia nigra and how this related to overall dairy intake.  In addition, the researchers looked at the levels of the organochlorine pesticide hepatachlor epoxide residues present in these brains (this pesticide was heavily used in the 1980’s in Hawaii and ended up in the milk).

Here’s what they found:

  • Those who consumed the highest levels of milk (>16 oz/day, or 2 glasses) had 41.5% lower brain cell density.
  • In this highest group of milk consumers, 90% of them had pesticide residues when compared to those who drank no milk (63.4%).
  • For smokers, this relationship between milk intake and brain cells was not present.

So what’s the take-home message here?

First of all, commercially grown dairy cows are notoriously high in pesticide residues even if they weren’t raised in Hawaii in the 80’s.  If you are still compelled, for some strange reason, to take in dairy products, stick with organic when possible.

Second, if you’re a smoker, you don’t have to worry about dairy intake—you’re already damaging your brain as much as you possibly can be.

Alzheimer’s Dementia–Forget Old Age–Are You in Danger NOW?

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gut bacteria and the brain
fotoliaxrender / Dollar Photo Club

We generally think of cognitive loss and dementia as something that strikes the elderly.  It’s something your parents have to deal with.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a patient ask me for help with a parent who was diagnosed with dementia that was at all concerned with his or her own long-term brain health.  Big mistake.

You see–dementia is not something that comes on overnight.  Rather, neurodegenerative diseases attack your brain cells over the course of decades, slowly destroying the neurons that make you who you are.  It is estimated that, by the time a diagnosis like Alzheimers dementia or Parkinson’s disease is made, that particular region of the brain (dopaminergic cells in the substantia nigra in PD, neurons in the hippocampal region and neocortex in AD) has lost upwards of 70% of the brain cells.

I have said again and again that I do not believe we will ever find an effective drug for these conditions in the stages at which they are typically diagnosed.  This is a freight train running.  I do believe that we can slow it down using things like ginko, vitamin E and CoQ10 as well as exercise and mental “push-ups.”

My thoughts on this matter, however, are not shared by the drugs companies and researchers looking for the new blockbuster drug for treating cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s dementia.  Billions have been spent on two proteins found in the brain of Alzheimer’s dementia patients–amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT–made up of Tau proteins).

The money has been thrown at the idea that, if we could find a drug to destroy these proteins, we’d win the battle against Alzheimer’s dementia (and makes billions…).  All of these trials continue to fail miserably, confirming my thoughts that these proteins are  byproduct of the damage, not the culprits themselves.

Billions of dollars wasted that could’ve been spent educating the public about how to prevent cognitive loss in the first place.  Maybe even buy a treadmill or jumprope for everyone on the planet.

But the drug companies have not yet lost hope at hitting the motherlode of Alzheimer’s drugs.  MAYBE, just MAYBE, we’re not using these drugs early enough.  If we could just give these drugs to patients who are at a higher risk years earlier they might actually work.

Luckily, we have studies like those found in this particular article to help the drug companies out.  In it, researchers looked at 2,125 participants to see if scoring on a composite cognitive test based on tests of episodic memory, executive function, and global cognition had any ability to predict who would develop cognitive impairment / Alzheimer’s dementia years later.  Here’s what they found:

  • Lower test scores were associated with the development of AD dementia over the duration of the study.
  • In the first year after the testing was done (specifically from 0.1 – 0.9 years later), those who were diagnosed with Alzheimers dementia were 984% more likely to have had the lowest scores.
  • Later in the study (13.0–17.9 years), those who were diagnosed with AD were 339% more likely to have had lower testing scores.

In other words, lower scores on cognitive testing were predictive of developing Alzheimer’s dementia EIGHTEEN YEARS later.

Almost two decades.

This once again demonstrates that the changes occuring in the brains of those of us who chose not to live with the healthiest of behaviors begins to show a loss of brain function long, long before any formal diagnosis of dementia would be possible.

But, as I mentioned, beware that studies like these will be used as tools to get the failed Alzheimer’s dementia drugs used on patients who have not yet developed the disease, but who are at high risk because of indicators like cogntive testing.

 

Too Young for Your Brain to Rot? Results Will Surprise You

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prediabetes and the brain
chrisharvey / Dollar Photo Club

Sure, you know that a daily meth habit will fry your brain. But what if over half of 40-somethings had brain damage? Couldn’t be possible, right?

Alzheimer’s dementia, memory loss, cognitive decline, Parkinson’s…these all happen to OLDER people, so you’re safe.  You gave up the obvious brain-damaging behaviors after college and you’re pretty sure your neurons have recovered enough to last you until your grandkids get married.

Besides, you take all those nutrients that we know protect the brain–magnesium, fish oils, ginko and vitamin D–so you’re even better off.  And if there really was some dastardly virus or bacteria or toxic chemical destroying your brain you would’ve read about it in Newsweek or there would be a Hollywood blockbuster with Julia Roberts as the hotshot young attorney taking on Monsanto for dumping hazardous waste into the Potomac resulting in children being born with an extra arm.

Nope.  Reality is far more sinister.

Neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease have long been considered a Type 3 diabetes because the links between poor sugar handling and these conditions is so strong.  I’ve taught classes on this topic for several years and most of the participants in the classes were unaware of the strong links.

Even fewer still are aware that these links exist for PRE diabetes as well.  Prediabetes–that condition that is found is about HALF of the industrialized world.  That means there’s a good chance that you fall into this category.

Carrying too much weight around the middle?  Cholesterol problems?  Liver enzymes elevated?  Had your gallbladder out?  Ringing in your ears?  High blood pressure?

Doesn’t apply to you?  How about liver enzymes still normal, but in the top half of “normal?”  How about high normal glucose levels?  How about a combination of “normal” trigylcerides at the higher end and “normal” HDL levels at the low end?  Is your blood pressure over 120 systolic (WITHOUT meds)?

The point is, while you may not think you’re prediabetic (or even if your doctor told you that you’re not), there’s a very good chance that you are.  In which case, the results of this particular study should be a great interest to you.  In it, researchers looked at a group of 2,216 men and women at an average age of FORTY to see about the relationship between blood sugar and brain health.  This is important, because we’re not talking about an 80 year old in a retirement community.  Here’s what they found:

  • Diabetes was associated with worse memory, visual perception, and attention performance.
  • Diabetes was also associated with higher “white matter hyperintensities”–a sign of damage to the cells of your brain.
  • Diabetics also had lower cerebral brain and occipital lobar gray matter volumes.  In other words–their brains were shrunk.
  • Here’s the kicker–increased fasting blood sugar was also associated with shrinkage of large areas of gray matter.

With the last detail we are no longer talking about diabetics (who, at some level, probably understand that diabetes is slowly destroying every part of their bodies) but also the prediabetics.  That’s a huge chunk of the population that has already begun to lose brain cells at a very early age.  Fast forward another 20, 30 or 40 years and there’s not likely going to be much left to finish a Sudoku puzzle.

The bottom line is that, if you care about your brain at all (and really…you should) and you have even the slightest concern that you are prediabetic or have any of the things listed about, you need to start NOW with a lifestyle revamping (feel free to check out my Diabetes eBook for some help by clicking here).  The brain damage is already occurring.  You may never get it back.

 

Exercise, Memory, Depression and Your Brain; Great News!

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The list of things you can do to protect your brain and improve brain function is quite long, but there is one things that is always at the top.

Exercise.

There is absolutely, positively no doubt that exercise is incredibly important for your brain.  And this is regardless of what you are worried about or what you are dealing with.  Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, chronic migraine headaches, seizures, multiple sclerosis…

Sadly, this tool is brought into play far too seldom.  The second you walk into your neurologist’s door, the first question he or she should be asking is how is your exercise routine going. All too frequently medications are the only item of discussion.

How exactly exercise helps the brain is yet to be figured out, but it’s likely working by several mechanisms:

  1. Improved blood flow to the brain.  More blood flow means more nutrients and healthier brain cells.
  2. Release of the hormone irisin through exercise.
  3. Muscles use glucose.  More muscle means better glycemic control and lowered risk of diabetes.  Prediabetes and diabetes destroy the brain.

And probably several more ways that I can’t think of right now.  This particular article adds to the list.  In it, researchers looked at the effect of the hormone adiponectin on the brains of mice.

Adiponectin is a hormone produced by the fat cells in the abdomen.  This hormone is essentially an anti-diabetes hormone.  As I mentioned, since diabetes is so bad for the brain, it might make sense that adiponectin would have positive effects on the cells of the brain.

But the specifics are what were so surprising:

  • Adiponectin can cross the blood–brain barrier.  Higher levels in the brain increased the number of brain cells and decreased depression-like behaviors.
  • A deficiency of adiponectin, however, cut short the beneficial effects of exercise in increasing the number of brain cells in the hippocampus (the region affected by Alzheimer’s dementia).

Because researchers were using mice, they were able to modify the hormone levels.  But, in your own brain, these same effects can be achieved through a combination of living an anti-diabetic lifestyle and exercise.

The anti-diabetic lifestyle will increase the levels of adiponectin being released by your fat cells.  The higher levels of adiponectin will give you the best possible effects of exercise on your brain.  Specifically, according the this study, the hippocampal region of your brain will benefit.  This is the region that is heavily involved with memory.

So, if you are a migraine sufferrer, it is not exercise alone that is going to protect your brain and your memory.  Exercise needs to be coupled with an anti-diabetic diet to have the full effect on protecting your brain.

Want to avoid Alzheimer’s dementia?  Same story.

Depression?  Anxiety?  Same story.

Get the point?  You cannot change or improve one aspect of your lifestyle without making changes in other areas as well.  Anything less will not give you the full benefit.

 

Migraines "Under Control" with Meds? Better Think Twice

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chronic migraines and Parkinsons
Chronic migraines linked to Parkinson’s disease

Last Update December 18, 2014

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but merely managing your chronic migraine headaches with meds is not the answer.

I am not saying that it’s not the short-term goal.  If you’ve ever spent time on some of the social networking sites  that relate to migraine headaches, you’ll realize just how devastating and life-shattering migraine headaches can be.  Jobs, relationships and lives in general can be restricted to living like a hermit in constant pain.

I understand that controlling the pain of the headaches is the first priority for a migraine sufferer.  But not everyone gets relief from medications.  This group spends their lives in a constant search for relief.  Medication after medication after medication.  When they’re lucky enough to find a medication to help, sometimes the side effects are just as debilitating.

The other group includes the ones who do find relief from medications.  But then they stop there, blissfully unaware that this is just the first step.

I have written over and over that the headaches are the symptom of a much bigger problem.  The headache is NOT a problem in the head.  Rather, it is the brain that is the most sensitive organ to the unbalanced state of health, with the critical dysfunction coming from blood vessel health (also referred to as “vascular health”).

Poor vascular health is at the root of migraines.  It is not always the only answer, but in most it is the principle problem.  If you can address vascular health and improve the health of your blood vessels, it is highly likely that you’ll find that your migraines improve as your blood vessels do.

Just in case you think I’m crazy for suggesting this merely because your neurologist has never suggested it, I would like to present as evidence this particular study.

In it, researchers looked at the relationship between the development of Parkinson’s disease in migraine sufferers in the AGES-Reykjavik study.  And the news isn’t good.

The Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-Reykjavik) is a study that began in 2002 and is designed to look at the relationship between risk factors, including genetic susceptibility and gene/environment interaction, in relation to disease and disability in old age.

Between 2002 and 2006, 5,764 participants from this study were reexamined to look for symptoms of parkinsonism, Parkinson disease, a family history of Parkinsons and Restless Leg Syndrome.  Here’s what they found:

  • People who experienced midlife migraine (especially migraine with aura) were 360% more likely to report parkinsonian symptoms.
  • They were also 250% more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinsons.
  • Women who had migraines with aura were 226% more likely to have a parent or 178% more likely to have a sibling who were diagnosed with Parkinsons.
  • All of those who experienced headaches were more likely to experience Restless Leg Syndrome.

Parkinson’s disease has been strongly linked to prediabetes and diabetes.  The damage to the blood vessels that occurs in the diabetic process is pretty bad, leading to actual brain damage and dying brain cells.  I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to keep all my brain cells intact as long as possible.

While no single study or research finding is enough to set anything in stone, the links between poor vascular health and migraines is quite extensive.  Extensive enough to warrant finding a new neurologist if this has never been discussed with you.

It is equally clear that vascular problems LEAD to migraine headaches, NOT the reverse.  This means that all the bang for your buck is in improving the health of your blood vessels to help your migraine headaches, not improving blood vessel health by controlling your migraines.  There is not a single medication used to control headaches that does anything to improve blood vessel health.

There are quite a few ways to improve the health of your blood vessels.  While it is beyond the scope of this article (you can read all about it in my Migraines and Epilepsy eBook by clicking here) here are a few short tips:

  1. Short-burst exercise is a must
  2. Cocao products like dark chocolate and cocoa, are very good for the blood vessels
  3. Berries
  4. Wild caught fish
  5. Not smoking (smoking DESTROYS the blood vessels)

While this is the short list, it should be enough to get you started.

Constipation and the future risk of Parkinson’s disease – (08-23-01)

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Constipation and the future risk of Parkinson’s disease

Isn’t this interesting? At this point no one is sure whether constipation is a sign of PD or whether constipation is a risk factor. Knowing what we know about the GI tract, however, would lead me to believe that the latter will turn out to be true. Much evidence points to the idea that methylation disorders contribute strongly to PD and that high dose folic acid and B12 may affect the progress of the disease. However, as with many other chronic disease, I am very sure that there is an inflammatory component to PD, and the GI tract is notorious for upregulating the immune system. Throw food allergies into the mix (which have been linked to constipation as well as brain lesions…) and there may be multiple pathways by which constipation could contribute to PD.

Neurology — Abstracts: Abbott et al. 57 (3): 456

Read entire article here

Worried About Alzheimer’s Dementia or Parkinsons? You NEED to Add This

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With any chronic condition such as Alzheimer’s dementia, whether talking about prevention or treatment, I never advocate a one disease: one cure model.  The natural approach necessitates a complete lifestyle change.  This is where the power of lifestyle comes in–the benefits of hundreds of positive choices adding together to produce a massive improvement.

I have certainly addressed the mitochondrial dysfunction model of neurodegenerative disorders in previous blog posts and will not go into this model in detail here (although previous blog posts on the topic can be read by clicking here).  However, it can be summarized by saying that anything that helps with the way your brain cells make energy is good while anything that harms the way your brain cells make energy is bad.  Too much of a loss in the ability of your brain to make energy and you start to lose brain cells.  While we can all tolerate the loss of a few here and there, too many brain cells lost can lead to the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

Antioxidants clearly benefit our brain and protect the mitochondria within your brain cells, and thus, in general, will lower your risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders.  Antioxidants can come internally, such as cellular made coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) or the enzymes superoxide dismutase or glutathione peroxidase, or they can come from the foods you eat or what you drink.  Examples can include:

  • Vitamin E (ONLY as mixed tocopherols)
  • Coenzyme Q10 supplements
  • Coffee or tea
  • Other phytonutrients (the thousands of compounds that make up the colors, scents, smells and tastes of the plant world)

Some phytonutrients are more potent than others, which brings us to this particular study.

Researchers looked at a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease to see how well an extract from pomegranates could halt or slow the progression of the disease.  The results were pretty good in the group of mice prone to the formation of amyloid plaques (like those seen in Alzheimer’s dementia) given the pomegranate extract compared to the same type of mice not give the extract:

  • The pomegranate feeding shortened the distance it took for the mice to get out of a maze.
  • The extract group had less inflammation in the brain (based on TNF-alpha and NFAT levels).
  • The pomegranate fed group had less “turning on” of the immune system in the brain (termed microgliosis).
  • The pomegranate group had less amyloid plaque formation.
  • 2 polyphenol components of pomegranate extract, punicalagin and ellagic acid, seemed to do the bulk of the work.

Overall, while this was a mouse study, the results were pretty strong in suggesting that the mere addition of a pomegranate extract was able to protect the brain in multiple ways from the Alzheimer’s progression.

As always, you should never follow a one-cause, one-cure model, but a sip or two of pomegranate juice may not be a bad idea.  Better yet, as the summer rolls around I’ll be able to pick my own pomegranates from my backyard trees and eat the seeds directly.

I’m sure my brain will thank me.