A Check-Up From The Neck-Up! Natural Mental Medicine for Cognitive Disease

The brain accounts for 2% of the body's weight and contains, literally, billions of neurons which are specialized to send signals to the rest of the body.  Nerve fibers actually begin to form during the second month of fetal life and the central nervous systems begins to develop rapidly from there providing the the most complex conduction pathways of the human body.  Sight, sound, hunger signals, pain signals, thought processes and really everything that we need to function are housed in that little area of our body.  That is amazing.

As we age, the brain tends to slow down in it's conductivity and memory.  I truly believe the old saying is true, "if you don't use it, you lose it!", when it comes to brain function.  Simple things:  I know of physicians (in the anti-aging practice realm) who refuse to use preset numbers in their phones.  Why?  Because if you don't use the recall and storage function, you won't be able to recall and store.  It's amazing to watch their minds at work.  I'm guilty of relying on my presets for everything.  There was a time when I was a child, that we had to memorize everyone's number for safety and such.  Now, we just scroll through the list of numbers and hit the send button.  Hmmm?   Think about the things you once had committed to memory, but now you couldn't recite the information if your life depended on it.  But really, our lives do depend on a healthy brain!!  Dementia often takes 15-20 years to develop and begins with mild cognitive impairment.  Thought leaders mention the starting clock for this begins in the late 30's to 40's.   So, some of us could be losing our mental mojo right now.  Sadly, Alzheimers Disease affects more than 5 million Americans and is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S.  That is alarming, but even more alarming is that 50% of cases are undiagnosed, and only about 25% of those with Alzheimers Disease receive the medications they need.

So what happens:
Key neurotransmitters such as dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, and serotonin can become affected due to stress, illness, injury, genetic predisposition, and so on to result in diseases that we see in the form of Parkinsons, Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety, and countless more.  And certainly, if the brain is not healthy, the body is not healthy.

Sometimes I'm asked what natural supplements or integrative medicine approaches can be used for someone with a known risk of Alzheimers Disease or other Cognitive Disease in their family.  To answer this question and break this down for my readers, there are 4 basic measures of brain function: Voltage (energy and the power supply to the body; Rhythm (Calmness and Stability); Speed (Memory and Cognition); and Synchrony (Balance or Resting).  I call these supplements listed below Mental Medicine.

Remember, 4 systems:

1) The Voltage System (Dopamine): Caffeine, Guarana, Nicotine, Tyrosine, Rhodiola, Thiamine, Folic Acid and Ginko Biloba are known to help.  Hormones for this system would include Testosterone, DHEA, Thyroid, Human Growth Hormone, Insulin, and Cortisol to name a few.

2) The Memory/Cognition System: Phosphatidylserine, Lipoic Acid, Fish Oils, Manganese, Ginko Biloba, Huperzine A are a few known boosters of this system.  Hormones would include human growth hormones, Estrogen, and DHEA.

3) The Rhythm System: Inositol, B Vitamins, Kava, Taurine, CoQ10, GABA can be used.  Hormones would include Progesterone and Pregnenolone.

4) The Sleep/Rest/Symmetry System: Melatonin, Tryptophan, St. Johns Wort, 5-HTP, Vit B6, Fish Oils, Magnesium, and Zinc are all known to be helpful with this need.  Natural hormones would include Progesterone, Pregnenolone, Leptin, and Aldosterone.

CRAVINGS, behaviors, memory speed of the brain, INSOMNIA and so much more can be affected by deficiencies of these key 'ingredients of health' in the brain.  We are all familiar with the vital signs of blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels, but in our traditional medical model we need to be doing vital signs of the brain as well.  I think it's important to find hidden disease before it finds you.  If you have a family history of cognitive disease, make sure that you are doing all that you can to give the brain the appropriate food that it needs for the long haul.  Many neurological tests exist, but key markers of Alzheimers Disease can also be checked.  I would encourage you to have a check-up from the neck up the first chance you get.  If you supply your brain with the appropriate nutrients, your chances are better to stay mentally fit.

Remember:
Hormone balance, as you see above, is critical to brain performance.  If you are deficient on any of the hormones listed, I can help you in determining a course of action to help you improve your memory and your overall performance.  The testing is simple and affordable!!!!  Believe me when I tell you that it is a small price to pay to get your brain the appropriate mental food that it needs and I can personally verify that MANY have given feedback through the years that they just feel more mentally alert and energetic when hormones and neurotransmitters are in normal range.


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To your good health,
Dr. Sonja