Holistic Psychiatry Podcast

In previous podcasts, I’ve discussed many root causes of brain symptoms, none of which exist independently from our hormones.  In this podcast, I’ll address the impact our sex hormones - estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone - have on our neurotransmitters.   I’ll also discuss how changes in our hormones can impact our personalities and mental health over our lifetime.  

While there is a great deal of diversity in our hormonal states, there are obvious similarities for those born female and similarities for those born male. Hormones are an exceedingly complex topic. I will be oversimplifying.

To learn more about the root causes of brain symptoms and the consultations that I offer, visit courtneysnydermd.com

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for yourself or others, including but not limited to patients you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your physician for any medical issues that you may be having.

Our limbic system (commonly called the lizard brain) plays an important role in our safety. If it’s over-functioning, however, we can feel chronically unsafe.

Previously, I discussed how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) puts us into fight, flight, or shut down when we feel threatened. The ANS operates largely outside our brain; however, it communicates with our limbic system, which is in the brain. In this newsletter:

* What is the limbic system, specifically the amygdala, and how does it keep us safe?

* What symptoms and conditions occur when the amygdala is over-functioning?

* What does the limbic system have to do with high immune reactivity and mast cell activation, multiple chemical sensitivity, and electromagnetic hypersensitivity?

* Are some of us born with an overactive amygdala?

* What environmental inputs can lead to limbic system dysfunction?

* How can we take advantage of neuroplasticity to address this dysfunction, feel safe in our bodies and environments, and become less reactive to food, chemicals, light, loud sounds, EMF, and other environmental inputs?

What Is the Limbic System?

The limbic system is a group of interconnected structures deep inside the brain (and just above the brainstem) that govern our emotions, motivation, sense of smell, and behavior.  Evolutionarily, the limbic system is considered the oldest part of the human brain.  It has been identified in fish, amphibians, reptiles, and early mammals.

The structures include the thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, which consolidates short-term memory into long-term memory, and last but most certainly not least, the amygdala.

The Amygdala

* a major processing center for emotions, especially fear, anxiety, and rage.

* helps identify potential threats and trigger appropriate reactions, such as the "fight or flight" response.

* stores emotional memories, especially those related to stress and fear.

* helps with social interactions and interpreting information about others.

* involved in learning by fear, and is necessary for acquiring both active and passive avoidance of conditioned responses.

* assigns value to objects and activities; plays a role in making judgments, including social, moral, and aesthetic judgments.

What is Limbic System Dysfunction?

This is when neuronal pathways have been reinforced from repeated threatening inputs. What is perceived as threatening starts to become generalized.

This can look like:

* high anxiety and even obsessive-compulsive symptoms, such as contamination fears, disordered eating, body dysmorphia

* hyper-vigilance or being excessively alert to anything perceived as a threat

* excessive fear related to:

* one’s symptoms

* one’s body

* food, medications, or supplements

* environmental exposures, such as chemicals, mold toxins, or EMF

Because of the interconnection between the central nervous system and our immune system, once someone has developed limbic system dysfunction from toxic exposure or trauma, they can become hyper-reactive to a wide range of stimulation, including light, sound, smells, foods, supplements, medications, chemicals, and electromagnetic fields.  As you can see, this becomes self-perpetuating. As a person has more reactions, often in the form of mast cell activation with its wide range of symptoms, they become more vigilant and avoidant to try to prevent symptoms. This adaptive response, however, further reinforces a hyper-vigilant limbic system.

What Does It Feel Like?

I can speak to this personally, as I had limbic system dysfunction from mold toxicity (from a home that had water damage) and then later in a new Smart house with high radio frequencies and dirty electricity. Even before I knew I had mold toxicity and was being exposed to mold, my thoughts repeatedly landed on themes around safety. I knew something was causing me to have severe fatigue and headaches, but I didn’t know what. “I shouldn’t eat that, I shouldn’t go there, I shouldn’t, I can’t, I better not.” I thought if I could control things, I would be fine.

Everything and everyone felt “too much.” It was hard to be with people. When our body feels threatened, we are not at rest, digest, and connect. It’s difficult to be present. That’s a problem because the less we connect with others, the more room in our minds for rumination and reinforcing those fear pathways.

My symptoms of pain, fatigue, and anxiety caused by mold toxins and EMF were helped and made worse by the limbic dysfunction that developed. If you’ve ever been “limbic,” you know it’s all-consuming and exhausting, not just for you but for your spouse, partner, children, and close friends.

Can We Be Born with Limbic System Dysfunction - “Wired For Danger?”

RCCX is a gene module (cluster of genes) that appears to be at the foundation of many psychiatric conditions and complex chronic health conditions, such as mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)

The RCCX gene module includes a gene for hypermobility (especially bendable or double-jointed), a gene for 21-hydroxylase - involved in stress hormone pathways, and a gene related to our immune response and autoimmunity.  Hypermobility is a red flag but not a requirement.

A weakness in 21-hydroxylase can result in higher androgens (such as testosterone) in utero and thus impact the developing brain, specifically the amygdala. Studies have found that those with hypermobility have a larger than normal amygdala, which fits RCCX theory.   This would suggest that many of us come into the world with an amygdala that already has us on high alert. The disadvantage of the resulting global sensitivity is the greater potential for health consequences. However, there can also be advantages, including being highly intuitive, observant, creative, and empathic.

Another seeming result of high androgen exposure in women during development is a finger length ratio more typical of men (the ring finger is longer than the index finger when looking with the palms up).   Perhaps the male finger length ratio in women and girls suggests a vulnerability to developing limbic system dysfunction.

Neuroplasticity - Friend or Foe?

Neuroplasticity is the incredible ability of our neurons to form new connections and modify the strength of existing connections. More simply put, it is the ability of our brain to rewire itself. Our experiences, thoughts, and behaviors drive these neuronal connections. As you’ll see, neuroplasticity can work against us and take us into or further into limbic system dysfunction, or it can help us find our way out of limbic system dysfunction.

How Do We Develop Limbic System Dysfunction?

I do suspect that many of those who go on to develop limbic system dysfunction already had a vulnerability from the start; however, environmental inputs - exposures or trauma - can reinforce those neuronal pathways of fear and avoidance.

Such experiences could start as early as the first three years of life.  Perhaps one’s attachment experiences left them feeling unsafe and uncertain that the world was safe. There could have been trauma. Over time, toxins could have left the body feeling chronically threatened. We see this with biotoxins, especially from mold and Bartonella, but also with Lyme and other co-infections. We also see this with high EMF exposure and chemical exposures.

Though we call it dysfunction, hypervigilance can lead people to their answers. Had I not been “limbic,” I probably wouldn’t have discovered I had mold toxicity, but once I did, I had to teach my brain and body how to feel safe again,… perhaps even safe for the first time.

Limbic System Retraining

Just as pathways of fear and vigilance can get reinforced over time, so can pathways of safety and well-being.  Limbic system retraining programs are structured programs with exercises, education, and support to help retrain the limbic system. They are incredibly helpful for most people, even those with an active “threat” like mold toxins in their body.  That doesn’t mean that actual external threats don’t need to be addressed. Just as I wouldn’t recommend someone stay in a traumatizing relationship, I also wouldn’t recommend someone stay in an environment in which they are getting significant exposure to mold toxins.

Limbic system retraining programs can be done at home online. Common ingredients include raising awareness of thoughts and triggers, interrupting those thoughts (with or without movements), and a visualization or mood elevation. All of these require practice. The three programs that I have patients look into and which many of us who treat complex illness have the most experience with are:

* Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS)

* Gupta Program

* Primal Trust 

Though these vary somewhat (DNRS is the most structured, Gupta brings in meditation, and Primal Trust brings in more vagal nerve interventions and trauma-informed practices), they are all effective. It comes down to fit and which program the person feels the most drawn to and, thus, will be most inclined to do.  While an hour a day may be recommended by the programs and maybe most helpful, it does not have to be “all or none.” Even ten minutes a day to start can still be helpful.

For patients who are so sensitive that they can not tolerate any supplements, binders (for toxins), or medications to calm down their immune and/or nervous system, limbic system retraining and vagal nerve interventions for eight weeks usually can allow them to move forward.

Again, because the immune and central nervous systems are so interconnected, as the limbic system calms down, so do mast cells, inflammation, immune reactivity, and the many symptoms that they can cause.  

Who Benefits From Limbic System Retraining

Limbic system retraining programs - specifically the Dynamic Neural Retraining System, not surprisingly, were first used for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome (EHS), and Fibromyalgia. They are also used for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), mold toxicity and other biotoxin illness (Lyme and it’s coinfections), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and more generally for:

* Those who have experienced physical, psychological or emotional stress and trauma and who are now suffering from a chronic health condition

* Those with chronic depression and/or anxiety

* Those with chronic pain

How to Help Children Limbic System Dysfunction

Older children and teens can benefit from doing limbic system training program with a parent. My daughter and I did DNRS together. Our conversations about it were reinforcing and still shape how we each think about how to support our neurophysiology. 

For younger children, following the steps may be more difficult. Programs like Brain Tap and Dr. Stephen Porges’ “Safe and Sound” program can be very helpful. 

Honoring Our Limbic System

Before I close, I would again point out that our amygdala - beyond keeping us safe - is the source of many of our gifts - our sensitivity, intuition about people, and inner knowing. Those of us who come into the world “wired for danger” are also wired to see things others may not see and feel things others may not feel. We can use such gifts to serve a higher good.

Whether or not you struggle with limbic symptoms, I hope something here helps you appreciate your limbic system so that it can help you find peace and purpose.

Until next time,

Courtney

To learn more about the roots brain-related symptoms and discover surprising paths to healing, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Medical Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your physician for any medical issues that you may be having.

“Addiction” - a compulsive, chronic, physiological, or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence.” 

Like other health conditions, addiction is multifactorial. It is the result of an alignment of root causes. In this newsletter, I’ll discuss:

* Substance addiction and behavioral addictions

* Why addiction is not simply about dopamine and why there are multiple addictive personalities

* How & why we differ in our physiologic response to substances

* Our culture’s shaming and punishment of addiction while fueling addiction

* The role of attachment disruption, trauma, emotional dysregulation, and social isolation

Substance Addiction

When it comes to addiction, you might expect me to talk a lot about dopamine.  Not all substance addictions are the same, however. Opioids act very differently on the body than alcohol, which acts differently than cocaine.  Some substances are more addictive than others, and even more so in certain people.  For most people, marijuana is less addictive, while alcohol, cocaine, and opioids are more addictive. 

Addictive Substances:

* Alcohol

* Caffeine

* Cannabis

* Hallucinogens

* Sedatives and Hypnotics/Anxiolytics

* Inhalants

* Opioids

* Stimulants

* Tobacco

Seemingly, 10-20 % of people who try substances will have problems with addiction. Our genetic makeup and the expression of our genes will impact how we react to substances, just as they will affect how we metabolize specific medications or environmental toxins.  We could, for example, have a weak enzyme that slows our metabolism of alcohol and results in our becoming more intoxicated more quickly. 

We may have high neurotransmitter activity that we’re trying to calm down with substances, or we may have low neurotransmitter activity and are taking substances or even carrying out certain behaviors that increase our neurotransmitter activity.   

Behavioral Addiction

While we can become severely addicted to substances, we can also become addicted to behaviors or the feelings brought on by the behavior or anticipation of the behavior. 

Examples of Behavioral Addiction:

* Food addiction

* Sex addiction

* Love and relationship addiction

* Codependence is considered a relationship addiction in that relationships are often one-sided, emotionally destructive, or even abusive.

* Exercise addiction

* Body dysmorphic disorder

* Health addiction

* Shopping addiction

* Gambling addiction

* Work addiction

* Video game addiction

* Internet addiction

* Smartphone addiction

* Social media addiction

* Porn addiction

* News addiction

* Information addiction

* Self-harm addiction

* Extremism is also felt to overlap with addiction

We can become addicted to anything that spikes the reward chemicals in our brains.  If we’re not sure if we’re addicted, we can ask ourselves, “Is the compulsive behavior having negative consequences?”

The severity of our addictions falls on a spectrum.  I may not have a gambling addiction where I am putting myself at financial risk; however, I could be addicted to sugar, which I know negatively impacts my health, gives me brain fog and fatigue, and causes me to check out of my relationships, including my relationship with myself. 

Culture: Shame & Punishment 

The last thing that we need if we are addicted to a substance or behavior is shame and punishment. Our culture still tends to see addiction as a moral failing or even a sin that can be removed with punishment.  This thinking leads to simplistic consequences such as rejection by family and friends and even imprisonment.  The same happens with other forms of mental illness, but in this case, there is even less understanding, less compassion, more anger, and more disdain.

Culture: Fueling Addiction

Meanwhile, most of us are becoming more addicted - addicted to our cell phones, social media, divisive stimulating news and information.  We have more information coming at us than we can process.  Our brains are flooded with catecholamines as we stay in highly stimulated states. One of those catecholamines is dopamine, which will drive motivation and have us in pursuit of “more.”  While there may be a type of pleasure in that pursuit, it’s not a joyful or even content type of pleasure.

When we are in pursuit, we are not present in our lives.   Many of us can barely process our moments, days, and lives in these modern times. For many, what was a life of memorable moments (positive and painful) has become a blur of days quickly passing by. Before we’ve had time to process what has happened, what we’ve experienced, or what we’ve felt, our minds are in pursuit of the next thing we need to know or have.

With addictive technology comes the marketing and its messages - “more food, more sex, more youth and beauty, more health, more money, more success, and even more love - the elusive movie kind.  We are forgetting how to be satisfied and tolerate uncomfortable feelings.

Attachment & Trauma

We haven’t all had the same early attachment experiences. Some of us have experienced childhood trauma. We don’t know what safety feels like. Two-thirds of those with opioid addiction have childhood trauma. This doesn’t account for the trauma that can occur before verbal memory, which is usually not reported.

Childhood trauma impacts our autonomic nervous system, our limbic system, and our hormonal stress response. Before we even experience a stressor, our baseline neurotransmitters may already be too high. Our trauma, in combination with our genetic variants, may result in high neurotransmitters that we may try to calm down with our addiction, or our trauma, in combination with our genetic variants, may have us seeking out stimulation so we can feel more alive and connected.

Social Isolation

Part of our understanding of addiction comes from the work of American psychologist Dr. Bruce Alexander, who did the “Rat Park” study.  Previous research had already shown that when rats were put in solitary confinement and given a choice between water and heroin or cocaine, the rats repetitively consumed the drug-laced water until they overdosed and died.

Alexander realized that the problem may not be the rats but the environment.  Rats are social animals, just as we are.  So, he created “rat parks,” where the rats could roam, play, socialize, and have sex.  Despite being given the same access to the two types of drug-laced water, these rats preferred the plain water.  Even if they did drink the drug-laced water occasionally, they never did obsessively, nor did they overdose.  The social environment was protective against addiction. If we want to help those with addiction, we need to think about connection. If we want to help ourselves with an addiction, we need to think about connection.

Emotional Regulation

Our ability to regulate our emotions (increase calm and decrease fear and anger) comes through interactions with other humans - safe humans. 

Ideally, we learn to regulate our emotions during our first three years. When we were distressed as infants and toddlers, we communicated that distress through our cries and facial expressions, our caregivers responded, and our physiology returned to a sense of calm and safety. This repeated process - not necessarily perfect, but “good enough” - resulted in our internalizing that early relationship and, with that, an ability to recognize our feelings, trust others, feel worthy, respond to uncomfortable feelings with coping skills, and return to our baseline emotional state.  Without this skill we acquire through attachment, we can become overwhelmed by our feelings or detached from our feelings. Our experiences, genetics, and temperament will impact which direction we go.

There is not one “addictive personality” but many addictive personalities. Some of us will be highly sensitive, and others will have a low level of sensitivity. Some of us will become overwhelmed by stress or stimulation and use addictions as a way to try to calm our emotional and high neurotransmitter states.  Others will seek sensory stimulation or risk-taking to bump those neurotransmitters and increase the feeling state.

Of course, our biochemical differences impact this as well:

* For those of us who are undermethylated, we may find that we are sensory seeking, have high activity at the NMDA receptor, and find ourselves craving whatever has come to have meaning or has left a mark on our neurophysiology.  

* For those of us who are overmethylated, we may have the desire to calm things down, slow our racing thoughts, and lower our high neurotransmitter activity.

* For those of us with high pyrroles (and or CAPs profile), we may feel socially anxious or overstimulated and desire to feel calm and comfortable, but at other times, we may feel brave and invincible.

“Being bold and adventurous and being sad and cautious seem like opposite personality types. However, these two paths to addiction are actually not mutually exclusive. The third way involves having both kinds of traits, where people alternatively fear and desire novelty and behavior swings from being impulsive and rash to being compulsive, fear driven, and stuck in rigid patterns. ……My own story spirals around this paradoxical situation: I was driven enough to excel academically and fundamentally scared of change and of other people—yet I was also reckless enough to sell cocaine and shoot heroin.”

- Maia Szalavitz

We need to think more broadly about addiction, just as we would any other health condition.  We need to address the underlying physiological root causes, meet our human need for connection, and learn ways to experience, tolerate, and cope with our very human and necessary feeling states.  

In this week’s paid newsletter, I look forward to discussing cases to illustrate how various neurotransmitters can be at play with different substance addictions and how targeted nutrients can be used in the treatment of addictions - both substance and behavioral. 

Until next time,

Courtney

If you’d like to dive deeper into the root causes of brain symptoms, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

It can be easy to forget that medical professionals are vulnerable to stress, burnout, and even physical and mental health issues. Though we expect them to be well, physicians have a relatively high rate of depression. Physician suicide is twice the rate of the general population.

I’ll argue that doctors have biochemical and environmental factors contributing to their strengths and vulnerabilities.

Though I’ll focus on physicians in this newsletter, much of what I’ll discuss applies to other medical professionals and caregivers.  In this newsletter, I’ll address:

* The higher rates of depression and suicide in physicians

* How undermethylation is likely a strong contributing factor

* How early family dynamics may be at play

* A medical culture that leaves physicians unsupported and reluctant to seek help

* Solutions

To learn more about the root causes of brain symptoms and the consultations that I offer, visit courtneysnydermd.com

Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for yourself or others, including but not limited to patients you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your physician for any medical issues that you may be having.

“Exterior building maintenance is crucial for preventing mold from growing inside a building” - Jerry Parker, CEIC, CMR

Twenty-five percent of people appear to be susceptible to mold toxicity - a surprisingly common cause of brain symptoms, including brain fog, fatigue, depression, anxiety, mood swings, OCD, panic, and psychosis. Mold toxicity can also be an underlying factor in pyrrole disorder, candida, and copper-zinc imbalances, which also cause brain symptoms.

Mold toxicity should also be considered when there are new-onset mental health issues in college students exposed to mold in their dorms or apartments.

Many chronic physical health issues can result as well, including autoimmune conditions. In my experience, mold toxicity is the most common cause of mast cell activation.

Jerry Parker is a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC) and Certified Microbial Remediator (CMR). Jerry has been helpful to me personally and professionally and has taught me a great deal about the environmental aspects of mold. Jerry owns Environmental Solutions Group, LLC, which has served residential and commercial clients for the last twenty years. He is about to launch an educational and consulting platform, 4 Indoor Air Quality LLC.

In this newsletter and podcast, Jerry and I discuss:

* why mold prevention isn’t just about keeping water out; it’s also about moving water away from the foundation

* ways to ensure rainwater is moving away from our home and its foundation

* landscaping and vegetation

* gutters and downspouts

* roof and siding integrity

* chimneys

* cantilever fireplaces and bay windows

* doors and window sealing

* siding and deck attachment

* the importance of regular self-assessments

At a later date, Jerry and I will discuss mold prevention with a focus on the interior of our homes.

Let us know if you have any questions or comments on mold prevention (exterior or interior).

Have a good week,

Courtney

To contact Jerry Parker CIEC, CMR: email - info.4IAQ.com 4IAQ.com

Related Content:

* Mold Toxicity: Depression, Anxiety, Brain Fog & Fatigue (free)

* Mold Toxicity & the Brain (free)

* Mold & Candida in the Brain (paid)

* Environmental Mold Myths (paid)

Skin conditions are common in those with brain-related conditions. Most of what you’ll find about this relationship is the suggestion that one is causing the other. It is believed, for example, that the stress of having a skin condition can cause depression and anxiety, which makes sense…..or that the stress of the mental health condition is causing an increase in stress hormones or inflammation that then leads to skin symptoms. This also makes good sense.

In this podcast, I’ll argue that skin and brain symptoms have shared common roots - one in particular. By brain symptoms, I’m referring to depression, anxiety, panic, OCD symptoms, brain fog, inattention, hyperactivity, mood swings, psychosis, and cognitive decline.

I’ll address:

* the many ways zinc (important in brain health) impacts the skin

* skin symptoms associated with specific “roots” of brain symptoms, including:

* low zinc and high pyrroles

* high copper

* mast cell activation

* candida and mold

* methylation imbalances

* Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS)

* Bartonella

* how traits such as flushing, early graying, or a pale complexion can suggest vulnerabilities to the brain symptoms (Obviously, not everyone with these traits has brain symptoms, but for those who do, these traits can point to likely underlying contributing factors)

* how certain acne treatments can worsen mental health conditions

* the importance of understanding shared root causes

If you’d like to add to the discussion, I always appreciate your questions and comments.

Have a great week,

Courtney

For information about non-patient consultations and treatment, visit: CourtneySnyderMD.com

Related Content:

What Physical Symptoms Tell Us About Brain Symptoms (paid)

Zinc & The Brain (free)

Labs For Evaluating Brain Symptoms (paid)

Medical Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for yourself or others, including but not limited to patients you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your physician for any medical issues that you may be having.

Eric Windheim, BA, BBEC, EMRS, RFSO is a Certified Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist and Certified Building Biology Environmental Consultant. He is the founder of Windheim Solutions, which provides inspection, testing, and remediation of problematic EMFs.

In this episode, we discuss smart meters, which are digital devices that measure electricity usage in real-time, and wirelessly send that information to the utility company. Smart meters are sometimes used for gas and water.

Though there are four harmful types of electromagnetic fields—radiofrequency (wireless), electric fields, magnetic fields, and dirty electricity—smart meters use radio frequencies.

Brain symptoms associated with EMF exposure include insomnia, memory problems, irritability, depression, personality changes, inattention, fatigue, confusion, headache, ringing in the ears, dizziness, numbness, and tingling.

Problematic EMF can impact the brain in many ways. It causes oxidative stress and neurotoxicity. It disrupts our immune system, innate electricity, hormones, microbiome, limbic and autonomic nervous systems, and the blood-brain barrier. EMF can also contribute to elevated blood sugar.

The good news is that there are many ways we can lower our exposure.

In this newsletter:

* Eric shares:

* How he became an electromagnetic radiation specialist.

* The story of smart meters

* His role in a national victory with Sacramento Municipal Utility District, the first municipal electric utility to allow customers to regain the use of analog meters.

* We discuss the following questions:

* How do you “opt-out” and return to an analog meter?

* What can you do if you have to have a smart meter?

* What can you do if you’re getting radio frequency exposure from your neighbor’s smart meters or other wireless devices?

* What meter can measure radio frequencies in and around your home?

* How can you find an electromagnetic radiation specialist?

If you’d like to join the conversations, consider sharing your experience or questions.

Have a good week,

Courtney

Mentioned Resources

* Windheim EMF Solutions

* WIndheim EMF Solutions Youtube Channel

* Building Biology Institute

* EMF & the Brain

* Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity - A Lesser Known Root Cause

* How We Can Start to Assess & Lower Our EMF Exposure

I recently had the pleasure of being on the Nourished By Nature: Mind Body Wellness Podcast with Annika Taylor, a holistic health practitioner.

After sharing with Annika how I became a holistic psychiatrist and how I define holistic psychiatry, we discuss:

* The Walsh Research Institute’s data on nutrient levels of 30,000 people with brain-related symptoms, and what were found to be the most common imbalances (One or more of these imbalances is present in about 90-95% of the patient's that I evaluate for brain-related symptoms).

* The Walsh biotypes of depression. How I test for the copper-zinc imbalances, pyrrole disorder, and methylation imbalances.

* High copper and its relationship to ADHD, anxiety, depression and post-partum. depression, anxiety and psychosis.

* Pyrrole disorder - symptoms, traits and treatment.

* How methylation impacts brain health.

* Under and over-methylation symptoms and traits.

* Treatment of under-methylation.

* How this understanding can remove the stigma associated with mental health conditions, and provide healing and hope.

In recent years, Dr. Walsh discovered that undermethylation is increasing in the population while overmethylation is decreasing.

If you’d like to add to the discussion, I always appreciate your questions and comments.

Have a great week,

Courtney

Related Resources:

Annika Taylor - nourishedbynature.com

Walsh Research Institute

For links to specific topics address see links in the description above.

Medical Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for yourself or others, including but not limited to patients you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your physician for any medical issues that you may be having.

Because Alzheimer’s starts before the onset of symptoms and because having almost any psychiatric condition appears to raise our vulnerability, many of the tools mentioned here relate to other brain symptoms and conditions as well.

“What we call Alzheimer's disease is actually a protective response to a wide variety of insults to the brain: inflammation, insulin resistance, toxins, infections, and inadequate levels of nutrients, hormones, and growth factors.” - Dale Bredesen, MD  (The End of Alzheimer’s Program: The First Protocol to Enhance Cognition and Reverse Decline at Any Age)

In this newsletter, I’ll discuss:

* Medications used in mainstream medicine

* Lifestyle and functional medicine approaches to preventing and treating Alzheimer’s

* Feeding the brain - The ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting

* Exercising the body and brain

* Sleep and sleep apnea

* Hormonal deficiencies and dysregulation

* Oral health

* Toxicity, depletion of antioxidants and oxidative stress

* Brain inflammation 

If you have any questions or comments (or topic suggestions),…

If you know someone who may benefit,…

Have a great week,

Courtney

Resources mentioned:

* Precision Medicine Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease: Successful Pilot Project

* Reversing Alzheimer’s: The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health by Dr. Heather Sandison

* The End of Alzheimer’s by Dale Bredesen, MD

* Walsh Research Institute

Previous newsletters/podcast episodes mentioned:

* Alzheimer’s: Factors We Have Control Over

* Regulating Blood Sugar For the Brain

* Intermittent Fasting & the Brain

* Exercise & the Brain

* Oxidative Stress & the Brain

* Lowering Brain Inflammation

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, meaning it involves the death of brain cells and the eventual loss of brain tissue. The brain changes leading to Alzheimer’s dementia begin twenty years before the onset of symptoms. This is important because the emerging research and clinical experience in functional medicine suggest that most contributing factors can be impacted. In this newsletter and podcast episode, I’ll address:

* The incidence of Alzheimer’s

* What happens in the brain

* The course of the illness

* Biomarkers used for diagnosis, even prior to the onset of symptoms

* Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s

* Risks

* The role of the APOe4 gene

* The role of insulin resistance in the brain

* The role of oxidative stress

* The role of inflammation

* Evidence of a fungal presence

* How these factors may be working together

In the next episode, I’ll discuss mainstream treatment, as well as functional/integrative/holistic approaches to target blood sugar regulation, oxidative stress, inflammation and even the presence of mold and candida.

Feel free to add to the discussion with your questions or comments.

If you know someone who may benefit from this information, please consider sharing.

Have a good week,

Courtney

Mentioned Resources:

* Alzheimer’s Association Facts & Figures

* Meet the Switching Mice: They Flip Their Glia APOE4 to APOE2

* Mold & Candida in the Brain (free)

Other Related Newsletters:

* High Copper, Metallothionein, Cancer & Mental Health (paid)

* Lowering Brain Inflammation (free)

* Regulating Blood Sugar For the Brain (paid)

Medical Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.