Skyrocketing suicide rates: Brain-based prevention tips

While death rates from cancer, heart disease and even homicide have gone down in the last 20 years, the suicide rate in the United States has risen sharply  Suicide is one of the 10 leading causes of death in the country, having jumped 80 percent between 1999 and 2014.

Economic distress, social isolation, and social media are factors that take part of the blame for skyrocketing suicide rates. While it is important to address these factors, we must also look at addressing depression, anxiety, and brain injury by improving brain health.

What does a brain need for health?

To function optimally, your brain needs fuel, stimulation, and oxygen; appropriately timed and in proper amounts. Unfortunately, our standard American diets (SAD) and sedentary lifestyles deprive the brain of these critical elements, setting the stage for dysfunction.

Brain fuel

The brain consumes about one third of the body's energy and depends on a steady, reliable source of glucose to keep it fueled and functioning properly. Spikes and drops in blood sugar (glucose) levels sabotage brain function, often causing depression and anxiety.

Symptoms of high blood sugar levels include fatigue after meals, constant hunger and thirst, and cravings for sugary foods and drinks.

Some common low blood sugar symptoms are moodiness or lightheadedness if meals are delayed or missed, waking up at 3 or 4 a.m., and a dependence on caffeine or sugar to keep you going.

Both low and high blood sugar are commonly caused by eating too many processed carbohydrates and sugary foods. Therefore, one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy and protect against depression is to eat a healthy, whole foods diet devoid of processed carbohydrates and sweets.

Brain stimulation

A healthy brain also needs exercise. Physical activity, such as jogging or gardening, and mental activities, such as playing chess and reading, stimulate the brain to keep it active and healthy. Watching TV is not stimulating, and spending hours on social media can worsen brain function. A well stimulated brain is less likely to get depressed.

Oxygen

The fact that you are breathing is no guarantee that your brain is receiving sufficient oxygen. Oxygen enters through our lungs and is carried, attached to iron, through the bloodstream into the brain where it can be used by the brain's cells. If you have poor circulation (symptoms can include cold hands and feet, or fungal nail infections), compromised lungs, or you are anemic, your brain may not be getting the oxygen it needs for optimal health, and depression could result.

History of brain trauma also important

Just one concussion triples the risk of suicide according to a Canadian study  This is likely due to unchecked brain inflammation, which damages brain cells, or neurons, leading to depression later on. If you have had a brain injury in your past and suffer from depression or anxiety, it’s vital to seek functional neurology help to help improve your brain health.

Functional medicine and neurology strategies can help to minimize damage from concussions, thereby reducing the risk of future depression and suicide.

To learn more about how to support brain health, contact my office.

Why your brain may be the cause of sleep apnea

It’s commonly thought that sleep apnea is simply a problem of obesity or structural issues that interfere with breathing. However, a commonly overlooked cause of sleep apnea in men and women is the brain. When the brain is not functioning properly, this can interfere with the body’s ability to maintain proper breathing function while asleep.

Sleep apnea and the brain in women

The brain’s influence on sleep apnea can be seen in women during perimenopause and menopause if their estrogen drops too low.

Insufficient estrogen causes the brain to fail in signaling the palate and tongue to maintain tone during sleep. The resulting lack of tone blocks the airway.

The brain-related cause of sleep apnea is different in men. In a rat study  young male rats responded to normal episodes of oxygen deprivation during sleep by automatically increasing brain activity to take deeper and more frequent breaths. However, the older male rats did not respond in the same way due, it’s theorized, to more aged brains.

Researchers observed a much different response to these normal episodes of sleep-induced oxygen deprivation in female rats. For one thing, older female rats responded much more positively to these hypoxic events than the older males.

Younger female rats had an even better response, especially during specific times in the menstrual cycle. This led scientists to believe female hormones play a role in how they respond to normal episodes of oxygen deprivation during sleep.

This theory is what leads researchers to believe estrogen deficiency contributes to sleep apnea in women during perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen influences serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter chemical that plays a role in giving the tongue and palate tone, including during sleep.

Estrogen tells the brain to breathe in women

To test the theory that the interplay between estrogen and serotonin plays a role in sleep apnea, researchers induced menopause in female rats by removing their ovaries. Sure enough, post-mortem brain biopsies showed less serotonin in the area of the brain that controls the tongue. This had made it harder for the female rats to respond to episodes of oxygen deprivation during sleep. This helps explain why sleep apnea affects more women in midlife.

Sleep apnea and the brain in men

Middle-aged men also experience higher rates of sleep apnea due to the effect of declining testosterone on the brain.

In midlife, men snore more and have more episodes where they stop breathing.

Middle-aged women, however, more commonly complain of insomnia  as well as headaches, fatigue, and irritability caused by sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality. That estrogen deficiency promotes weight gain and restless leg syndrome only worsens the problem of sleep apnea.

Hormone status that plummets too low in midlife can be the result of chronic stress, poor diets, lack of exercise, and other standard bad habits of modern living. These are areas we can address through functional medicine.

Functional neurology and sleep apnea

Sleep apnea can also arise in relation to traumatic brain injuries  childhood brain development disorders such as autism  or other brain-related issues. In functional neurology we can identify identify areas of dysfunction related to sleep apnea, such as with nerves traveling from the tongue to the brain through the brainstem. Based on findings, customized rehabilitation exercises may help address problems with sleep apnea.

Functional medicine and neurology strategies can profoundly improve both brain and hormone function so you not only sleep better, but also feel and function better. Ask my office for more advice.

Use functional neurology to reverse memory loss and prevent dementia and Alzheimer's

Although genetics play a role in memory loss, that doesn’t mean you have to be a helpless victim to the ravages of brain degeneration. By taking action right away if you notice memory loss, you can reverse your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s before it’s too late.

One study showed that nine out of 10 patients were able to reverse their memory loss. The study subjects also showed significant long-term improvement in memory function.

So what was the magic bullet? No magic, just implementation of functional neurology basics.

The subjects underwent a dietary and lifestyle overhaul that included changes in what they ate, regular exercise, supplementation, better sleep, and exercising their brain.

The improvements were so profound that some of the subjects were able to work again, having quit before due to advancing memory loss.

Of the 10 study subjects, the only one not to improve suffered from late-stage Alzheimer’s — showing how important it is to take action to reverse memory loss before it’s too late.

Although plenty of functional neurology clinical cases show memory loss can be reversed, this was the first study of its kind.

Functional neurology to reverse memory loss

In the study, subjects reversed their memory loss through the following approaches also commonly used in functional neurology:

• Removing all simple carbohydrates (white rice, pasta, bread, sugar, etc.) from the diet
• Eliminating processed foods
• Gluten-free diet
• Eating more produce and wild fish
• Doing yoga and activities that reduce stress
• Increasing sleep from 4-5 hours a night to 7-8
• Supplementing with methyl B12, vitamin D3, fish oil, CoQ10, curcumin, resveratrol, ashwagandha, and coconut oil
• Exercising a minimum of 30 minutes four to six times a week
• No snacking
• Use of hormone therapy in cases where it was necessary

Researchers found the biggest challenge in the study was complaining from the subjects about all the changes. Nevertheless, all but one enjoyed significant benefits.

How functional neurology can reverse memory loss

One of the more important factors in reversing memory loss is reducing consumption of simple and processed carbohydrates. These foods spike the blood sugar, inflame the brain, and trigger a cascade of chronic health problems.

In fact, some researchers call Alzheimer’s type 3 diabetes because excess sugar and carbohydrates are so destructive to the brain.

Exercise is another vital strategy to reverse memory loss because it has so many beneficial effects on the brain.

It’s also important to get enough sleep every night to reverse memory loss. This is because one purpose of the brain waves produced during sleep is to transfer memories from short-term storage to long-term storage areas of the brain (hippocampus to neocortex). Too little sleep disrupts this process.

A gluten-free diet can be a profound tool to reverse memory loss — in some people gluten triggers inflammation or autoimmune destruction of brain tissue, sabotaging memory function. Other foods such as dairy, eggs, soy, and grains can do the same.

Although most people think a gluten sensitivity causes gut problems, the truth it more commonly causes neurological damage. For some people, simply going gluten free profoundly improves their brain health and reverses memory loss.

Rehabilitating brain deficits to reverse memory loss

In addition to dietary and lifestyle approaches, functional neurology rehabilitation techniques can help reverse memory loss. If an area of your brain is under active or over active, functional neurology exercises to restore balance and function to the brain will help improve overall brain function, including reversing memory loss.

Ask my office about ways functional medicine and functional neurology can help you reverse memory loss and prevent dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Girls with autism show different symptoms than boys

We commonly think of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affecting mostly boys. While it’s true ASD affects more boys than girls, it turns out that many girls go undiagnosed because their symptoms are much different than that of boys. Girls with autism may behave socially more like neurotypical males than boys with autism. Female autism may also be misdiagnosed as anorexia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The diagnostic criteria for autism — difficulties with socialization and communication and repetitive, inflexible behavior patterns — come from studies on boys. A 2012 study of 15,000 twins found that girls needed to exhibit more extreme behavioral problems and intellectually disability to receive a diagnosis. This means that many girls on the milder side of the ASD spectrum go undiagnosed.

Girls with autism closer to typical boys

Brain scans, genetic testing, and other measures show that girls with autism disorders not only present differently than boys, but also that the understanding of autism has been overly narrow by primarily studying boys.

For one thing, brain scans show a girl with autism process social information much differently than neurotypical girls, but also differently than boys with autism. Instead, their brain operates very much like that of a neurotypical boy. Furthermore, research assessing friendship quality and empathy showed autistic girls score about the same as neurotypical boys.

Girls are better able to hide autism

Girls often go undiagnosed also because they can excel and suppressing their symptoms and studying and mimicking neurotypical girls. However, it’s an exhausting and stressful process for autistic girls, who show a much greater desire to connect than boys.

Girls also exhibit less repetitive behavior and more typical types of play as children, although researchers can pick out subtle differences — obsessively lining up their Barbies, for instance, or being more engaged in staging a scene than the story line.

Female autism can present as anorexia or OCD

Autistic girls also differ from their neurotypical peers by being extreme in their traits, such as “too sensitive” or “too intense.” Their single-minded intensity is believed to underlie anorexia in some who channel those traits into dieting and body obsession. The extreme aversion to certain tastes and textures common with autism also lends itself to anorexia. It’s estimated about 20 percent of women with anorexia also have autism.

The same can be said for autism and OCD, as obsessive-compulsive behavior, fear of change, and being overly rigid are hallmark traits of both OCD and autism.

Autism can make girls vulnerable to predators

Sadly, the autistic girl’s traits of taking things literally combined with social isolation makes her more vulnerable to sexual predators and abusive relationships.

Autistic girls are more apt to suffer from anxiety, low self-esteem, social isolation, and depression. Although people with mild autism are ten times more likely to be suicidal than the general population, the rate is highest in women — 71 percent of women with Asperger’s report suicidal thoughts.

The role of maternal testosterone in autism risk

Autism risk is linked with higher levels of fetal testosterone. A mother with polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder that causes high testosterone, has an almost 60 percent higher risk of giving birth to a child with autism. This is why having a female brain offers protective barriers to this tendency.

However, researchers have found girls with autism have a higher number of genetic mutations than autistic boys. In other words, a girl’s brain may need more genetic and environmental “hits” in order to develop autism.