What's New in Medicine

Mechanical force or trauma on the brain is cumulative. In its most extreme state, such trauma can result in dementia pugilistica, the dementia seen in boxers. Trauma can result from G-forces, which occur in surprisingly common situations. A car making a 90 degree turn at 40 miles an hour creates a G-force of 1.5; a roller coaster can be as high as 4.5 Gs. The mechanical force needed to potentially cause brain damage or damage the neurons is as little as 2Gs.

Traumatic injury seems to also predispose some patients to develop fibromyalgia, a chronic and painful condition of the muscles. All it may take is one major auto accident. If the injury involves the cerebellum or back of the brain, there is greater potential for the development of fibromyalgia. A frontal or side injury has more likelihood to result in cognitive injury to the brain.

A soccer ball weighs one pound and travels up to 30 mph, thus having has significant potential for injury, especially in the young, developing brain. I highly recommend that a child or an adult never use their head to hit a soccer ball. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to take your most important organ and slam it against something that is moving at 30 mph. It takes roughly one episode of loss of consciousness and 12 episodes of G-forces over 2G's to predispose a person to have some form of cumulative damage to the brain due to mechanical trauma.

Believe it or not, the G-forces of having high blood pressure, with a carotid stenosis greater than 50% are 2.5 G's. This results in continual damage, particularly in patients with stroke and may increase the risk of developing dementia. It is imperative to get the blood pressure under control and to treat carotid problems.

What are some things we can do? Well, Omega-3 fatty acids are important for maintaining the plasticity of cellular membrane, while cholesterol is used to maintain rigidity. A balance of both is necessary. In the typical American diet we roughly get about only one-third of the Omega-3 we need (about 130 mg daily). We need somewhere in the neighborhood of 700mg to 1000mg. Most Americans ingest too much unsaturated and trans fats. They do exactly the opposite of what we should. The trans fats increase our LDL(harmful cholesterol) and decrease our HDL (good cholesterol). This is very dangerous. Keep in mind that trans fats do not exist naturally; they are basically a laboratory creation. Vegetable oil is heated to 400 degrees Farenheit in the presence of platinum and superheated hydrogen to turn it into a solid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. (It is important to note also that the United States government allows a label to contain 0 trans fats if it has less than 0.5 mg per serving of trans fats, so beware.)

Omega-3 can be found in Fish oils; as well as, other oils like flaxseed oil, boreg oil, and black curd oil which is found in blackberries.

An easy way to get Omega-3 is from blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, even strawberries; in fact, berries in general are a good source of Omega-3. A good suggestion is to have a nice cup of blueberries every single day. Wild are even better than the farmed.

Omega-3 is found in a rather decent quantity in almond milk. Try to get the ones without additives. It can also be found in other nuts like walnuts and pecans; a great choice as a snack. Take care, though, as it can be a little fattening, so keep the quantity down to three or four ounces. Green leafy vegetables also are a very good choice for Omega-3. Broccoli, for instance, has about 0.75 grams of this essential fat.

It is best to prevent head injuries by always using an approved Helmet when engaged in any activity that puts you at an increased risk of a potential head injury. Should you suffer a head injury get a proper medical evaluation ASAP. The brain is your most important organ and it can not be replaced.

The most effective was valsartan (Diovan). Other hypertensive medicines were also evaluated, and were found to be less effective. The doses that were found to show benefit were significantly lower than normally would be used to treat hypertension. These results need to be further addressed and verified through research in humans, but this is a very important finding. How it actually works is speculation at this point.

Dr. Pasinetti feels the antihypertensive medications might work by reactivating blood flow and reversing vascularization, clearing the way for development of new blood vessels into the brain tissue; therefore producing a clearing effect on the Abeta. It must be noted that this is just an initial finding, and the use of these drugs in fighting Alzheimer's is still highly experimental and speculative.

Any information and research that shows a potential benefit to help us fight this neurological disease is always welcomed. Stay tuned for more information in this exciting area of research.

References:
"Neurology Today", Volume 7, #23, December 4, 2007, page 1, page 8-9.

Wang J., Ho L., Pasinetti G.M., et al. Valsartan lowers brain Beta amyloid protein levels and improves spatial learning in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. J. Clin. Invest. 2007; 117:3393-3402.

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