The convergence of pharmaceutical and natural therapies upon one neurologic pathway to modify a brain degenerating process offers hope in traumatic brain injury patients. While traumatic brain injury, especially when repetitive, often leads to cognitive decline, even dementia, two pharmaceuticals and a few natural agents offer hope. The anti-inflammatory medications diflunisal and salsalate garner little…
Our fallen world provides numerous examples of how adversity can impact our health. None of you need convincing of that reality and therefore this study appears bland at first. But read a little further and you will see that the researchers uncovered effects on children’s executive functioning and changes in stress hormones. They found measurable…
Everyone is exposed to mold on a practically daily basis. How can it really cause so many different symptoms as functional MD’s claim? Over time, I intend to answer those questions for a long list of symptoms, but for today, let’s look at the brain. Several studies indicate that our delicate neurological system does suffer…
Everyone wants to talk about the gut-brain axis these days for good reason. So many brain diseases are being found to have contributing factors originating in the intestinal tract that other are searching for more connections. Mostly we have a lot of correlations, meaning we know there is a connection, but don’t have a mechanism…
Multiple sclerosis patients need some good news now and then. It is such a devastating disease for many and produces so much fear. Its attack on the myelin surrounding nerve fibers leads to countless neurologic symptoms unless something turns off the attack or turns up the repair. Researchers are constantly searching for that magic medicine…
Sometimes, a study leaves me speechless in the potential for a profound impact I see in its findings. The authors of the study may never know how significant their finding could be for biotoxin patients. Without a little explanation, those outside the biotoxin world would never know how far down the rabbit hole a…
We are truly a whole person. Functional MD’s like myself recognize how our body, minds, and spirits interact even though we don’t always understand fully the mechanisms. Still, we appreciate when studies support what we practice on a daily basis. This study looked at how cognitive behavioral therapy could lower inflammation and affect inflammatory messengers…
Medical research supports both brain exercise and body exercise for our health. Given the quest for deeper understanding researchers next wondered if the brain or the body led the way in staying healthy. Boris Cheval et al published their attempt to determine the race between brain and body in Health Psychology. By monitoring cognitive function…
As the epidemic of Alzheimer’s grows, scientists search for whatever therapy options arise out of the ongoing investigations into root causes. Scientists search for the complex and sophisticated, but sometimes simple possibilities poke their heads up and surprise. Researchers recognized alterations in the metabolic activity of early Alzheimer’s and asked themselves if this could contribute…
Insomnia plagues the lives of many, robbing their daytime of energy and focus, robbing nights of peace. In functional medicine we offer many therapies to improve sleep such as supplements, lifestyle changes, and neurofeedback. This research may lead to another option as scientists further unravel the connections between prebiotics and sleep. Coming in various forms…