Keep your brain healthy – it’s worth it.
Published August 14, 2004 in
the North Island Weekender
I had quite a response to my last article so I would like to
further educate you about brain health and what you can do now rather than
waiting to see if you develop loss of brain function. What are the symptoms of
mental fitness? Focus, concentration, curiosity, flexibility, resourcefulness,
memory, coordination, ability to do manual tasks and sensory awareness.
Symptoms of neurological degeneration include: impaired expression and
comprehension of the written or spoken language, difficulty in decision making
and problem-solving, agitation, disturbances in or loss of memory, difficulty
in carrying out tasks with multiple steps, impaired judgement, intellectual
decline, depression, anxiety and confusion and disorientation.
The good news is that the brain can repair itself albeit
slowly. The brain does change through out life to provide for with the capacity
to manage the challenges that increase with age, storing more memories and
learning new things. Studies have shown that pre-senile dementia patients in nursing
homes had their IQ increase when they read adventure stories and played games.
They are waking up the genes that are asleep in the nervous system. The bad
news is that neurotoxins such as mercury when ingested after a fish meal, slow
motor skills moments after ingestion! In other words the brain is very
vulnerable.
The brain may be particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage
due to the fact it has a high energy requirement, a high oxygen consumption
rate, is rich in fatty acids that easily oxidize and contains high levels of
metals such as iron.
The four main keys to optimal brain health are to
1) lower oxidative stress of the mitochondria,
2) improve homocysteine metabolism,
3) improve metabolic and endocrine balance and
4) lower inflammation of the brain.
1. To lower
oxidative stress: increase intake of anti-oxidants, increase omega 3 essential
fats (EPA and DHA) in diet, reduce infections, avoid rancid fats and
charbroiled meats, repair leaky gut and is this may have an effect on the
brain, avoid allergens, get enough oxygen and avoid smoking.
Vitamin C is another anti-oxidant to consider along with Vitamin E and NAC (N
Acetyl Cysteine). Having too much iron in the body is very oxidative. Make sure
your ferritin levels are optimally at 50-150 rather than 300. As your
inflammatory status decreases the ferritin also lowers along with CRP (C
reactive Protein). Some patients I also recommend donating blood to lower these
ferritin levels further. Women run into this problem in their post-menopause
years but generally not before. CoEnzyme Q10, lipoic acid and N Acetyl
Carnitine are other anti-oxidants that
help lower the oxidative damage of the mitochondria. (Ask for July 24th 04
article Part One). Some drugs lower CoQ10.
Statin drugs for lowering cholesterol and levodopa for the treatment of
Parkinson’s Disease (PD)are examples, both of which will increase mitochondrial
dysfunction in the absence of CoQ10! In the Archives of Neurologia there is a
study with 80 PD who were given 1200 mg of CoQ10 and they had a 40% reduction
in their decline. This study was never publicized however if it was a drug that
was found to have this effect it would be front page news! No need to take so
much CoQ10 as anti-oxidants are taken in concert to have their best effect and lower
dosages are effective.
Antioxidants such as beta carotene, lycopene, Vitamin E and C and vitamin A are
all found to be low in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients so this is a call for
all physicians to act to prevent these deficiencies in the first place. Other
anti-oxidants you may have heard about that are good for the brain include:
ginkgo, lycopene, lutein, rosemary extract, resveratrol (purple grape), and
green tea.
2. Homocysteine
metabolism: 42% of those with neurogenerative disorders have elevated
homocysteine which indicates an insufficiency of any of the cofactors: B12, B6
and folic acid. Another drug that will increase mitochondrial dysfunction is
Prilosec or Nexium, used for the treatment of heartburn and reflux, as it will
lower B12 status and therefore increase homocysteine which is a mitochondrial
toxin! (Levodopa also increases homocysteine levels and 40% of PD develop
dementia after 5-10 years of levodopa!) As well as many other prescription and
over the counter drugs, the birth control pill is notorius for lowering folic
acid. Make sure you know what nutrients the drugs you are taking are depleting.
3. Improve Metabolic
and Endrocrine Balance: Treat stress, get enough sleep, get exercise, balance
estrogens and progesterones, reduce carbohydrate ingestion to reduce glycation
and avoid xenobiotics, (environmental toxins).
Chronic stress will elevate cortisol which decreases the
size of the hippocampus, one of the first signs of AD. Lead, mercury, arsenic
and cadmium are well documented to interfere with neuronal health. Chemicals,
including herbicides, that contain rotinone cause a three fold increase risk of
developing PD as they are mitochondrial toxins. That is how they work! Carbon
monoxide exposure may trigger PD. Some
food stuffs such as artificial sweeteners and MSG are neurotoxins. See the books
Excitotoxins, The Taste That Kills
by Russell Blaylock and Chemical
Brain Injury by Kaye Kilburn and Aspartame
Disease, An Ignored Epidemic by H.J. Roberts.
The challenge with these toxins is that some folks are very
able to eliminate them through the detoxification pathways of the liver, but a
small percentage of people are not. These are the folks that develop Parkinsons
Disease after an exposure to herbicide application to their lawns! These phases
of detoxification of the liver can be measured and treated if they are found
deficient.
4. To lower inflammation in addition to eating an
anti-inflammatory diet, supplement with DHA and EPA (essential fatty acids from
fish preferable low in mercury!), niacinamide, resveratrol, melatonin,
boswellia, turmeric, ginger, green tea and licorice root. 50% of those over 85
will develop AD.
“It takes 20-30 years to manifest AD. If you can measure… with imaging
when you are 50, and you do an intervention when you are 50 and you change the
trajectory of the disease by a little, all of a sudden instead of getting AD
when you are 70, you get it when you are 110. And then it is no longer a
problem.” George Barkzokis M.D. US Dept of Veterans Affairs.
Dr.
Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently
practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com