LifeCare Chiropractic

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cognitive decline

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.

 

Vitamin D And Cognitive Decline

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CAN THIS SIMPLE ACT PROTECT AGAINST LOSING YOUR MIND?

Again beating a dead horse here…the benefits of Vit D are truly too many to count.  This particular study looked at the risk of cognitive decline and Vit D levels in the blood in those older than 65 yoa and found that those with < 25 nmol / L had a 60% greater risk of “substantive cognitive decline.”  Talk about a simple approach.  And considering that these researchers used a cutoff of 25 nmol / L (“optimal” levels are >60 nmol / L) the benefits at optimal serum levels are likely to be much greater.  One of the reasons I think that Vit D has taken so long to catch on is that this would require the national “health” powers that be to put their collective feet in their mouths.  For so long it has been drilled into us to avoid the sun at all costs.  Turns out this info is as destructive to our collective health as the USDA food guide pyramid.  I always advocate reasonable sun exposure coupled with Vit D supplementation.

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Critical Links Between Sleep Apnea, Deep Sleep and Dementia

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sleep apnea and dementia
karuka/Dollar Photo Club

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on dementia research annually. While many may not like my opinion, I think we’re throwing this money away.

To date, we have had very little in the way of a “cure.”  The research dollars continue to hit dead ends.

Here’s the problem.  By the time that someone is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder, it is likely that he or she has already lost a large chunk of the dopaminergic cells of the substantia nigra (Parkinson’s) or the cells of the hippocampal region and the neocortex (Alzheimer’s dementia).  In these patients, the loss of brain cells has been going on for decades.  DECADES.

The process is a freight train going.

I do not think we will ever be able to stop this freight train.  Slow it down maybe:  studies on coenzyme Q10, magnesium, exercise and ginko biloba have demonstrated the ability to slow the progression of neurodegenerative disorders.

One thing, however, is very, very clear.

Prevention is possible.  We now have very clear cut risk factors for Alzheimer’s dementia.  And the vast majority of them are modifyable.  Very modifyable.  Smoker?  Quit.  Don’t exercise?  Start.  On your way to diabetes?  Change your diet and exercise.  Too much brainless TV?  Shut it off and challenge your mind.

This particular study adds yet another preventable risk factor to the list.

Sleep.  And lack of it.

And not just the take-a-pill-so-you-can-sleep sleep, but good quality, slow-wave sleep (SWS, non-REM stage N3).  Ironically, some drugs that you may take to help you sleep are actually interfering with your ability to hit the SWS stage of sleep.  Drugs like  fluoxetine (Prosac) and paroxetine (Paxil) have been shown to interfere with SWS sleep.

Researchers looked at a group of 167 Japanese American men in Honolulu, HI who were followed until their death and had their brains examined at autopsy.  Specifically, researchers were looking for signs of brain damage associated with cognitive loss and Alzheimer’s (Braak stage, neurofibrillary tangle and neuritic plaque counts, microinfarcts, generalized brain atrophy, lacunar infarcts, Lewy bodies, neuronal loss and gliosis in the locus ceruleus).

This brain damage was then compared to the results of a sleep study (polysomnography) done at the beginning of the study.  Here’s what they found: and died through 2010 (mean 6.4 years to death). Polysomnography measures included the apnea-hypopnea index, duration of apnea or hypopnea, duration of hypoxemia, minimum oxygen saturation (SpO2), duration of slow-wave sleep (SWS, non-REM stage N3), and arousals.

  • Sleep duration with oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) less than 95% was associated with a whopping 388% higher levels of microinfarcts (small strokes).
  • Greater SWS duration (in other words, better deep sleep) was associated with less 68% less atrophy in the brain.
  • Lewy bodies were 83% less common in those who had more sleep at 95% oxygen saturation or more.
  • Higher minimum oxygen saturation during REM sleep was associated with less gliosis and neuronal loss in the locus ceruleus (in English–less inflammatory cells and less dead brain cells were found in the region of the brain stem that deals with stress and our ability to respond to stress).
  • Cognitive scores declined less among men with greater SWS duration.

These are some pretty serious associations.  And it all fits into the picture of what we already know.  Prediabetes and diabetes are very closely associated with cognitive loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s.  Prediabetes and diabetes are also closely associated with sleep apnea.  So it just makes sense that sleep apnea and poor quality sleep would be linked to brain damage.

Brain damage.

That sounds serious.  AND, it sounds like it’s finally time to go get that sleep study done and find out if you need to be using a CPAP or BiPAP machine.  Your brain will thank you.

 

Brain Damage in Epilepsy—Can it be Avoided?

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brain damage in seizures
abhijith3747/Dollar Photo Club

I don’t need to go into how epilepsy is a condition not limited to the brain, because I have covered this many times in the past.

This is also just one of the areas where migraines and seizures have similarities—migraines are also a brain condition that is not limited to the brain.  Both are an indication that something is very, very wrong.

All of the evidence points to an underlying problem with the way the brain cells are able to produce and use energy.  This problem is referred to as mitochondrial dysfunction (which just so happens to be one of my favorite phrases and, coincidentally, the root of all that is evil in chronic disease…).

In seizures, this problem generating energy leads to the brain cells firing before they are supposed to fire, resulting in a domino effect on other brain cells, producing the uncontrolled brain firing of a seizure.

In migraines, it is unclear whether the mitochondrial dysfunction creates the headaches by affecting the way blood vessels react in the brain, or whether a problem with the way blood vessels react (called flow mediated dilation) starves the brain for the nutrients it needs to generate energy.  Luckily, the lifestyle changes for both conditions are the same.

Regardless, researchers seem to agree that there is a serious problem with the blood vessels in both migraines and seizures.  Ultimately, blood vessel problems play a role in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as well.

To clarify what I mean by “blood vessel problems,” you need to understand that your blood vessels are very dynamic.  They expand and contract as needed based on signals they get from the cells they feed to provide nutrients.  As an example, if you took a racquetball and started squeezing it repeatedly, the muscles cells in your hand and wrist will quickly need more nutrients to continue.  As a result a signal is sent to the blood vessels of the arms, causing them to dilate (open) and increase blood flow into the forearm and hand.

Picture this same action in the brain.  When the brain cells in an area need more oxygen, glucose or micronutrients, blood flow to this area of the brain increases.  No imagine if the blood vessels were no longer as responsive.  You end up with starving brain cells.  Not a good scenario.

With this as background, I’d like to throw this particular article into the mix.  In it, researchers reviewed the dangerous relationship between blood vessel function and damage and cognitive decline.  They open with identifying findings that are common between chronic epilepsy, Alzheimer’s dementia and age-related cognitive decline.  These include:

  1. Increased plaquing in the carotid arteries (CA–IMT)
  2. Elevated homocysteinemia levels
  3. Lipid abnormalities (cholesterol, triglycerides, VLDL, low HDL, etc…)
  4. Weight gain and obesity
  5. Insulin resistance / prediabetes
  6. High levels of inflammation
  7. High levels of oxidative stress

All of these factors wreak havoc on blood vessel health.  Poor vessel health not only damages the brain cells that it feeds, but the long-term dysfunction in the blood vessels ultimately damages the blood vessels themselves, leading to hardening of the arteries, making the starvation of the brain cells permanent.

All of this damage to the blood vessels lead to brain damage.  The authors note a few of the well-accepted brain changes as a result of this damage.  These include:

  • Decreased volume of the hippocampus (an area also shrunk by chronic stress and one of the areas that are damaged in Alzheimer’s dementia)
  • Increased cortical thinning of the frontal lobe (the area of the brain that deals with personality).
  • Ventricular expansion and increased white matter ischemic disease (a sign of brain cells dying)
  • Total brain atrophy (basically a shrinking brain)
  • β-amyloid protein in the brain (one of the principle proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer’s dementia patients)

If you’re still reading this far, then you now understand just how critically important it is to go beyond seizure control to making whatever lifestyle changes you need to make.  A true anti-seizure treatment protocol needs to include a lifestyle that is anti-diabetic and anti-heart disease.  Luckily, these lifestyles are pretty much the same.

And you may find that, once you have adopted a healthier lifestyle, your seizures will also improve.  You’ve got nothing to lose.

Except your brain cells.

What Are You Snacking on? Make Better Brain Choices

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When the idea of snacks are brought up, the scary choices like Doritos, chips and nachos come to mind.  But what do you think these do to your brain?

Becomes vaguely reminiscent of the “This is your brain.  This is your brain on drugs.” commercials.  The unhealthy fats in most snacks (high in omega 6 from corn, soybean and cottonseed oils) have been linked to lower IQs and overall brain function.  Personally, I would prefer eating snacks that support brain health rather than destroy it.

Enter the beloved cacao bean.  Believed to have originally been grown in the shadow of the Andes mountains, the cacao bean is most commonly used to make chocolate and cocoa; two food items that are rarely thrown across the room by disgruntled toddlers.  Here’s the best part—the research consistently and strongly shows that cacao based compounds are really protective to your blood vessels.  Protect your blood vessels and you protect your brain and heart.  If these benefits came from gnawing on bark and grass from an untainted field, I could understand some reluctance.  But it’s chocolate.

This particular study yet again demonstrates to benefits of cacao compounds on the brain.  Researchers looked at neurovascular coupling, a term referring to the changes in blood flow that occur with activation of certain areas of the brain.

60 participants at an average age of 72.9 years were given cocoa and followed for one month.  They were evaluated for both neurovascular coupling and cognitive function measured via the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Trail Making Test A and B (A targets are all numbers and the test taker needs to connect them in sequential order, and B alternates between numbers and letters).  The test were evaluated at the 24 hour mark and the one month mark.  When possible, MRIs were also used to look at the white matter of the brain.  Here’s what they found:

  • In those participants who had impaired neurovascular coupling at the beginning of the trial, results improved (from -2.4% up to 5.6%).
  • Times to complete Trail B improved 44% as well (from 116 to 167 seconds).
  • Under MRI, the white matter of the brain demonstrate better structural integrity.

While some of the results may seem a little confusing, let me sum it up for you:

You need to take more cocoa, dark chocolate and straight up cacao.  Pretty simple.

Did You Know Your Irregular Heartbeat Causes Brain Damage?

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I don’t write much about atrial fibrillation or causes of irregular heartbeat, but I have a pretty strong understanding of how to fix it.

Why?  Because I wrote a book on migraines and seizures (which, incidentally, can be found by clicking here).  “What does that have to do with anything?” you ask.

Well, because the cells of the brain function very much like the cells that regulate your heartbeat.  They are heavily dependent on high levels of energy (in the form of ATP) to NOT fire.  Basically, a charge has to build up and build up until it is time for that cell to fire, whether it is to fire off a brain cell or the heart muscles.

Just like improving chronic migraine headaches or improving seizures in epilepsy, the key is to stop doing things to damage your mitochondria (the part of the cell that makes the needed ATP) and start doing things to improve the way your mitochondria function.  While that is beyond the scope of this blog post (other than mentioning that stress and too many low quality calories are major contributor), you can read about improving mitochondrial function in a previous blog article by clicking here.

The rates of Afib are increasing in direct proportion to how sick our population is.  Many times the condition is just watched, but in more problematic situations, beta blockers may be used (which will increase the risk of diabetes and stroke) or anticoagulants like warfarin or coumidin or a cardiologist may thread a wire up into your heart and burn out the cells that he or she believes are causing the problem (called ablation for afib).

All of this brings us to this particular study.  In it, researchers looked at what happens to the cognitive abilities of those over age 75 who developed atrial fibrillation.  Overall, it was clear that, in those who developed atrial fibrillation, there was a faster decline (about 2 years faster) in cognitive function that got worse the longer the Afib was present.

“But I’m not 75, so my Afib is not the same issue,” you say.

Yup.  It’s likely worse because YOUR atrial fibrillation will be present for many more years.  And while your atrial fibrillation may be noticeable, the subtle damage to your brain won’t be for decades to come.

The bottom line is that, if you have ANY degree of Afib, lifestyle changes are needed.  And caffeine avoidance, which may have been mentioned to you, is low on the list.  Stress management, exercise and a high quality / low calorie diet are at the top of the list.

You need to understand that the heart palpitations are only a single symptom of a much greater problem.

Could Your Anti-Inflammatory Destroy Your Brain?

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I was teaching a class to doctors this weekend and, on a break, heard one of the doctors on the phone talking about a patient with costochondritis and telling the person on the other end to take an anti-inflammatory to fix the inflammation.

This is THE response in society and in medicine today.  Sure, most physicians and patients are aware of the risk of ulcers with anti-inflammatories but rarely understand the risks beyond this.  As the author of an ebook that covers the vast array of side effects from anti-inflammatories (click here to view the book on Amazon.com), I am always happy to add new, unexpected side effects to this dangerous class of drugs that we take so blissfully.

Diabetes and prediabetes is very bad for the brain.  This is one of the reasons we are seeing an increase in the rates of cognitive decline, dementia, Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinsons disease.  These conditions are very strongly related to the diabetic spectrum.  Given the rate of prediabetes in this country, that means that well over half of us are already at risk.

This increased risk is likely due to some combination of blod flow to the brain (the diabetic spectrum is very bad for the health of your blood vessels) and a disruption in the way brain cells are able to use energy (brain cells require lots and lots of energy made from glucose in their mitochondria).  So, you can envision that anything that is going to negatively effect blood flow in the brain will be a bad thing ON TOP OF being diabetic.

Enter anti-inflammatories, specifically a particularly nasty one called indomethacin (Indocin).  This particular study looked at what happened to blood flow in the brain of a small group of diabetics in response to the administration of indomethacin.

Here’s what they found:

  1. Mean flow velocity (a good thing, higher = more blood flow to the brain) was reduced after indomethacin use.
  2. The researchers, however, seemed happy that, when indomethacin was taken, the blood flow in the brain was improved when the patients held their breath multiple times in a row.

Certainly I can see where the researchers may view the improvement in the brain blood flow with breath holding as a good thing.  However, given that most diabetics (or prediabetics, for that matter) don’t go around holding their breath multiple times in a row, I’m not entirely sure this overshadows the negative side of indomethacin’s effects on overall blood flow.

The bottom line is that, while indomethacin may show a benefit in those holding their breath, this is not a commonly done behavior in diabetics or prediabetics that I am aware of.  However, merely taking indomethacin slowed the flow of blood into the brain–a clearly damaging action that will do long term harm to the brain cells.

While I’ve said it before, let me re-iterate that you need to view taking ANY pill, although in this case we are looking at indomethacin, as a risk benefit scenario.  Is the reason you are taking this drug going to outweigh the long list of side effects that will inevitably come as a result of taking the drug?  Better yet, is there another route you could take (such as, maybe…chiropractic?) that does not have the associated side effects?

On the other hand, if your brain is not that important to you, than pop away.