Top 5 Reasons NOW Is the Time to Invest in YOU

1. **Insurance premiums just posted their biggest jump in over a decade.** Marketplace premiums rose roughly 26% on average for 2026, and out-of-pocket costs for many enrollees are spiking even higher — some analyses put actual payment increases near 114% — as enhanced subsidies expired. Premiums for the benchmark Affordable Care Act plan soared 26%, on average, with enrollees' actual premium payments expected to spike 114% due to the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies. [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/24/economy/health-insurance-premiums-cost-increase) Waiting on the system to get cheaper isn't a strategy — building your own resilience is.

2. **Employer coverage isn't a safe harbor anymore either.** Employer-sponsored insurance costs are projected to increase by 9% for 2026 — the highest growth in fifteen years. [The Century Foundation](https://tcf.org/content/commentary/its-official-americans-will-pay-much-more-for-all-types-of-health-coverage-in-2026-including-medicare/) Even people with "good" coverage are absorbing bigger costs than ever.

3. **Healthcare spending keeps outpacing what your body actually needs from it.** U.S. health care spending rose 7.5% between 2022–2023 and another 7.2% the following year, topping $15,000 per person. [Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2026/navigating-an-unaffordable-health-insurance-market) More dollars are going into the system, but that's not the same as more access or better outcomes for you personally.

4. **Access is shrinking, not expanding.** As many as 21 states lost at least one marketplace insurer for 2026, and Aetna exited the ACA market altogether. [Commonwealth Fund](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2026/putting-extraordinary-increase-aca-premiums-2026-perspective) Fewer insurers and higher risk pools mean fewer choices right when people need coverage most.

5. **The system is built to treat illness after it happens — not to keep you out of it.** None of the trends above touch prevention, mobility, strength, balance, or neurological health. That work has always sat outside what insurance reimburses well, which means it's on you — and the earlier you start, the more ground you protect before you ever need the system that's getting more expensive and harder to access.

**The bottom line:** healthcare and insurance are both moving in a direction that makes proactive care more valuable, not less. Investing in your training, mobility, and neurological health now is one of the few moves that pays off regardless of what happens to premiums or coverage next year.

Common early/possible signs of Parkinson's disease (per Parkinson's Foundation and Mayo Clinic guidance):

Tremor – slight shaking in a finger, thumb, hand, or chin, often at rest

Small handwriting (micrographia) – letters suddenly get smaller or more cramped

Loss of smell – trouble smelling foods like bananas, dill pickles, or licorice

Trouble sleeping – sudden movements during sleep, or thrashing/kicking (REM sleep behavior disorder)

Stiffness or reduced arm swing – arm doesn't swing naturally when walking, or feels stiff/painful

Constipation – ongoing straining to have a bowel movement, unrelated to diet

Soft or low voice (hypophonia) – others notice you're speaking much more quietly than before

A few other signs sometimes included in "top 10" lists: masked/reduced facial expression, dizziness or fainting (blood pressure changes), and stooped or hunched posture — good options if you want to expand this into a longer video or a follow-up "3 more signs" piece.

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part two in our posture series

Improve trunk rotation, posture, and shoulder mobility with this exercise

Set up your one-on-one training sessions or therapies by contacting Karl at 315-935-7488

Also visit http //www.karlsterling.com

**The Sleep Aid Trap: What PM Meds Are Doing to Your Brain**

That nightly Tylenol PM or ZzzQuil feels harmless — it's just an over-the-counter sleep aid, right? Not exactly. It's the same anticholinergic drug class as the Benadryl I broke down yesterday, and the science on long-term use is worth knowing before you reach for it tonight.

In this video I cover:

🧠 Why diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in most PM sleep aids) blocks acetylcholine — the neurotransmitter your brain relies on for memory and learning

📊 What large cohort studies say about long-term, regular use and dementia risk — and why occasional use is a very different story than nightly use

⚠️ How anticholinergic burden stacks up silently across allergy meds, bladder medications, and certain antidepressants

💊 The Anticholinergic Burden Scale — a simple tool your pharmacist can check that most people have never heard of

✅ What to actually do instead: sleep hygiene fundamentals, non-anticholinergic alternatives, and why you should never stop a regular medication cold turkey without talking to your prescriber first

This is Part 2 of the hidden brain risks in your medicine cabinet series — start with yesterday's video on Benadryl if you missed it.

👇 Drop a comment: which PM sleep aid do you use?

🔔 Subscribe for tomorrow's follow-up: what your pharmacist can check in 5 minutes

⚠️ This video is for educational purposes only and isn't medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before changing any medication.

#BrainHealth #Neuroplasticity #SleepHealth #DementiaPrevention #NeuroMotorTraining

Calluses aren't just a foot problem — they're a brain problem

Thick skin blocks the signals your nervous system needs to balance and move well

THE PROBLEM
Your feet have thousands of sensory receptors (mechanoreceptors) that tell your brain where the ground is
Calluses build up over pressure points — heels, balls of the feet, big toe

Thick, dead skin dulls that sensory signal before it ever reaches the brain

This is a proprioception problem, not just a skin problem

WHY IT MATTERS FOR MOVEMENT
Less foot sensation → brain gets a blurry picture of ground contact

Body compensates by leaning on vision and other joints to stay balanced

Shows up as: poor balance, altered gait pattern, compensations up the chain (ankle, knee, hip, low back)

Especially risky for older adults and anyone with an existing neurological or movement condition — the sensory margin is already thin

THE CONNECTION TO NEUROPLASTICITY
Sensorimotor input drives motor output — dull the input, and the brain's map of the foot gets less precise

This is the same principle behind barefoot/minimalist training and sensory-based rehab work

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Regular callus maintenance (file/pumice, don't just ignore it)

Barefoot sensory work on varied textures (this is where Naboso-type surfaces come in)
Balance and proprioceptive drills to retrain the foot-brain connection

Don't numb the input further with overly cushioned shoes 24/7

Your feet are a sensory organ, not just a structural base

Take care of them like the rest of your nervous system depends on it — because it does

www.karlsterling.com

Long-term, regular use of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) as a sleep aid has real concerns for brain health:

Anticholinergic burden and dementia risk — Several large studies (notably the 2015 JAMA Internal Medicine study) found a link between cumulative, long-term use of strong anticholinergic drugs like diphenhydramine and an increased risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. The risk appeared dose- and duration-dependent.

Impaired cognition — Diphenhydramine blocks acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter critical for memory and learning. Regular use is associated with brain fog, slower processing speed, and short-term memory problems.

Tolerance to sedative effects — The drowsiness effect typically wears off within days to weeks of nightly use, so people often don't get quality sleep benefit anymore but keep taking it, meaning the anticholinergic exposure continues without the intended payoff.

Disrupted sleep architecture — Even when it does sedate, it tends to suppress REM sleep, which plays a role in memory consolidation and emotional processing.

Next-day grogginess ("hangover effect") — Its long half-life (especially in older adults) can cause lingering drowsiness, poor concentration, and slowed reaction time the following day.

Increased fall and accident risk in older adults — Combines sedation with anticholinergic effects like dizziness and blurred vision, which is part of why it's on the Beers Criteria list of medications considered potentially inappropriate for older adults.

Withdrawal/rebound insomnia — Stopping after chronic use can cause rebound insomnia, reinforcing a cycle of dependence on the drug to sleep at all.

Confusion/delirium risk — Particularly in elderly patients, higher anticholinergic exposure is linked to acute confusion and delirium episodes.

Worth noting: this research is largely observational/correlational, so it shows an association rather than definitively proven causation — but the consistency across studies has been enough that many clinicians now steer patients away from routine diphenhydramine use for sleep, especially older adults or those with any cognitive concerns.

Spotify Reinstated Our Show — Here's What Happened 🎙️

A few weeks ago, our podcast was pulled from Spotify under a "Dangerous Content" flag. We appealed right away — because nothing about our content violated their guidelines. Today, Spotify confirmed it in writing: the removal was a technical error, and the show has been fully reinstated.

I'm sharing the whole story in this episode — what happened, how we handled it, and why the timing made it sting even more. We'd been putting in serious work to grow the show and reach more people, and in the three weeks leading up to the takedown, our traffic had grown by 1,400%. Getting pulled right in the middle of that momentum was tough, but seeing it resolved (and the numbers holding) means even more now.

Thank you to everyone who kept listening, kept sharing, and reached out asking where the show went. This channel exists because of you.

🎧 Listen to The Karl Sterling Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7J1IvzrhRWKq3qaSqA4pbu?si=zrkhBWbdQ8-LMSNEhI5P7g&utm_source=copy-link

Drop a comment and let me know what topics or guests you'd like to hear covered next — I read every one.

#TheKarlSterlingPodcast #Neuroplasticity #Longevity #ParkinsonsAwareness #BrainHealth #NeuroMotorTraining

www.karlsterling.com

www.brainbodybones.com

Visit https://www.karlsterling.com/dr-lewis-brain-care to learn more about and to purchase Dr. Lewis Daily Brain Care formula