Despite the obvious nature of the idea, until recent research, only practitioners of functional medicine had supported the (apparently outrageous) notion that certain nutrients can increase neural connectivity in the brain. Researchers looked at a number of nutrition markers found in high levels of beneficial nutrients in the Mediterranean diet. They include omega 3’s, some…
Scientists have long known that the cerebellum, that smaller chunk of brain sitting at the back of the skull under the “all-knowing” cortex played a central role in coordinating movement. Ballerinas, musicians, and sports stars among others have spent countless hours of their lives to hone their cerebellar coordination to become experts of motion. Apparently…
Rather than waste time debating whether or not Autism has increased or is just more frequently reported, more fruit will result from studies like this one by researchers at Kanazawa University in Japan. As the numbers of children diagnosed with autism rises faster and faster, Kyung-min et al chase a non-invasive test for diagnosing this…
A major study looking at how our brains age was just released. The Amen Clinics, Google, John Hopkins, UCLA and UCSF collaborated to look at what factors contributed to accelerated aging in humans. Using SPECT scans they evaluated over 100 brain areas in over 60,000 people and compared individuals with different characteristics to estimate how…
Express Subway from Skull to Brain — A number of thrilling discoveries have arisen in recent months from the field of neuroimmunology. First researchers stumbled upon the brain’s lymphatic system despite believing for decades that none existed. Now researchers uncovered a mechanism for immune cells in the bone marrow of the skull to reach the…
It is difficult to go anywhere these days without seeing teens staring down at a smart phone screen. Meanwhile the epidemic of ADD and ADHD type symptoms has everyone up in arms. These researchers asked a simple question, “Could social media use be connected with developing ADHD?” I am not shocked by their findings of…
Have you ever started reading something so deep and so complex that you pause on the second page realizing you already are in over your head? I confess, this article “Advances in Biomarker-Guided Therapy for Pediatric- and Adult-Onset Neuroinflammatory Disorders: Targeting Chemokines/Cytokines” from Frontiers in Immunology did that to me. I am in awe of…
I recently commented on a study linking common childhood viruses (Human Herpes Virus 6 and 7) to Alzheimers disease. In that longer article I mentioned that the medical world is not quite ready to admit that some viral infections may play a part in the development of Alzheimers dementia. This article is another example of…
Functional MD’s like myself often find ourselves in the realm of medical concepts like methylomics, transcriptomics, and genomes when we are researching ways to alleviate our patient’s suffering. In searching for personalized therapy modalities for my patients, I find myself reading the latest research on a variety of issues. One research topic of late has…
Each year hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into Alzheimer’s disease research and countless families are affected as a loved one begins the apparently irreversible downhill trajectory of this degenerative disease. Lives are being lost to this relentless thief. Are we any closer to discerning this thief’s entry points? Have we gained insight…