• How a concussion or more properly termed, traumatic brain injury (TBI), affects your brain
• Your body’s natural defense against TBI
• How CBD reinforces this defense and can help heal TBI

What is TBI?
We’re hearing a lot more about traumatic brain injury in recent years, with increasing diagnoses among many prominent figures from military combat veterans to figures in such high impact sports as football and boxing. There has also been attention focused on child and teen sports, where the injuries can be even more damaging to their more vulnerable bodies. Fortunately, TBI is being taken a lot more seriously now than ever before.

In TBI, the head is impacted by an external force that causes the brain to swell within the confines of the skull, thus decreasing blood flow, and causing other chemical changes that adversely affect brain function. In many instances, the brain fully recovers. Far too often, however, patients are left with lasting issues such as memory problems, depression, motor impairment, anxiety, migraines, vision problems, trouble processing, and much more.

Standard Medical Treatment of TBI
The biomedical standard of care for TBI consists of these doctor’s orders:

• Rest in a dark room
• Don’t spend time in front of screens
• Lay off the books, the job, the studying
• Don’t do excessive thinking

This, in addition to surgery and occupational therapy for more severe cases, is about all doctors have to offer those with a traumatic brain injury, commonly referred to as concussion. Then, it’s a game of watch and wait. The brain is left to heal largely without any specific therapies to support the body’s natural healing processes.

Functional Medical Treatment of TBI
In contrast, those of us who use an integrative or functional medicine approach which focuses on treating underlying issues, have found that there is a better way to treat TBI. There are a number of anti-inflammatory herbs, such as curcumin, that help heal the brain. There are modalities, like hyperbaric oxygen (HBOT), which rescue brain cells by enhancing the flow of blood and oxygen. Then there is neurofeedback to train the brain in forming new pathways. Add in acupuncture, an ancient but still powerful treatment for TBI. All these treatments already take us beyond the mainstream standard of care.

A treatment that is (too slowly) gaining more mainstream acceptance are orally administered omega-3 fatty acids that reduce the inflammation and thus, lessen the swelling in the brain. You can read more about this in When Brain Collide, written by my colleague, Dr. Michael Lewis. His omega protocol, in which patients take a mega-dose of fish oil over the course of a few weeks, has had remarkable results. It has restored brain function in many including bringing people out of coma. Some years ago, my friend JJ Virgin’s son, Grant, had a devastating head injury, and I saw personally how high doses of fish oil was instrumental in bringing him back. This was even covered by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a special on the topic for CNN.

CBD for TBI
Now we have a new modality: the administration of CBD for brain repair. Like many of us, Dr. Lewis is not only enthusiastic about its use, but fortunately is using his platform as a recognized TBI expert to educate the public and doctors alike about the benefits of adding CBD to the protocol.

The proof? Animal studies have demonstrated that cannabinoids can not only reduce the acute effects of TBI, mitigating neurological damage, but can also help with the secondary effects, including those frustrating cognitive deficits that can linger after even after a “minor” TBI.

The Science
CBD takes us from “There’s nothing we can do,” to “We definitely can help you!” How does this happen? Here is some of the science behind the phenomenon.

First of all, as mentioned, TBI causes the brain to swell and induce a potentially toxic level of activity of the excitatory neurotransmitter, glutamate. This can lead to varying amounts of cell death in significant portions of the brain. Inflammatory compounds and free radicals are also released, creating oxidative stress. These acute effects of TBI can lead to a host of secondary effects, potentially killing off more brain cells, weakening the blood brain barrier, and contributing some of the hallmark symptoms of TBI like brain fog, mood disruption, and sleep problems.

In my blog on the endocannabinoid system, you know that the ECS, the bodily system controlled by cannabinoids, is responsible for relaxing your body and returning it to balance in times of stress. It is also your body’s natural defense against TBI.

The ECS has two main receptors: CB1 and CB2. When activated, CB1 decreases excitatory glutamate activity. Excessive glutamate is toxic to brain cells, and the ECS has evolved to fight against it.

CB2, on the other hand, when activated revs up the immune response. It helps repair cells and promotes the creation of new neurons. This directly combats brain damage caused by cell death. Notably, CBD also preserves memory by preventing neuronal loss in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center.

Brain Damaged Mice and CBD
In one study, researchers inflicted a TBI on mice genetically engineered to lack either CB1 or CB2 receptors. Their injuries were more severe compared to those of mice that had both receptors. Moreover, studies have shown that after a TBI, ECS activity increases to enact healing.

Another study showed that after a head injury was inflicted on a group of mice; when half of them were untreated and the other half received a single dose of plant derived endocannabinoid called 2-AG, there was a definite difference in outcome. The mice who received treatment improved in cognitive function, motor function and every parameter examined, even months later—a remarkable success. Of course, in a lab setting the scientists had the advantage of being able to administer the dose of 2-AG shortly after brain injury, so while it proved the point, it may be harder to do this in everyday head injuries.

CBD works best if administered in the “window of opportunity,” the critical moments after a brain injury, in which intervention can actually prevent brain damage. Typically, this window is a matter of minutes, 10 minutes, maybe an hour. CBD widens this window of opportunity. It works best up to 12 hours after an injury.

However, even if you had a brain injury, months or even years ago, CBD can still help by reducing brain inflammation and treating the secondary effects mentioned above, just not as well as if treated at the time. As long as you have symptoms from a TBI, CBD can have a positive effect.

How does it work?
CBD is what’s called a “promiscuous compound,” i.e., a chemical that binds to a variety of different receptors. That means CBD not only binds to the receptors of the ECS, but other receptors such as the serotonin receptor 5-HT1A and the PPAR-gamma nuclear receptor. These two receptors, when activated, protect the essential blood brain barrier which can be damaged during TBI. The blood brain barrier is a network of blood vessels and cells meant to keep unwanted substances out of the brain. It’s exceedingly difficult to pass through, and any weakening of it can allow otherwise unwanted substances to enter the brain. This can lead to inflammation and other brain conditions.

Serotonin, as you may know, is a major regulator of mood, and is the purported target of popular antidepressant medications, the SSRIs. CBD is known to boost mood not only through its impact on serotonin, but also dopamine, the pleasure or “reward” neurotransmitter, and GABA, the calming neurotransmitter. Thus, CBD can ease the depression and anxiety that can be so troublesome for those recovering from TBI.

More Brain Benefits
And it doesn’t stop with mood. CBD can also improve memory and lift brain fog. As mentioned, CBD can promote neuron growth in the hippocampus. It also regulates acetylcholine, which boosts memory and mental acuity.

One more huge benefit is the effect of CBD on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It acts in the area of the limbic system, the seat of emotions, to help “forget” the fearful emotions associated with the traumatic event. This is important since PTSD is difficult to treat successfully by conventional means. There are specific trauma treatments such as EMDR, somatic experience, tapping and more, and they all work well, but even better in conjunction with CBD.

With all of its healing ability, CBD has yet become a standard treatment for brain injury. We hope that with more studies on its use, and simply, more experience by the public and the medical profession, it will become better accepted.

Luckily, you don’t have to wait for researchers to construct the perfect clinical trial in order to start using CBD.

Choose a full spectrum hemp oil extract which delivers the remedy as nature intended, with other cannabinoids and terpenes, so you get the best effect possible, known as the “entourage effect.”

How to Take CBD
Start out with a small dose and increase gradually, using your own response as a guide. Typical doses are 25–100 mg daily in divided doses 1–3 times daily. Doses are quite individual, based on your unique ECS activity.

Interactions with medications:
Even though CBD has a good safety profile, if you are taking medication, you should check with your doctor before trying it. Both CBD and most pharmaceuticals are detoxified by the liver’s cytochrome P450 enzyme system. As a result, certain medications, including chemotherapy agents, anti-epilepsy drugs, and the blood thinner coumadin may be affected. In some cases, you just have to have the drug dose decreased. For a list of potential drugs that may interact with CBD, see this link: https://cbdorigin.com/cbd-drug-interactions/ The fact is, though, we have found that doses under 100 mg a day generally do not interfere with medications.

Adjunctive Care
In addition to taking CBD, take large doses of omega-3 oils. I also agree with the conventional wisdom to rest your brain until medically cleared to become more active. You can enhance this rest with meditation and breathing exercises as well as good nutrition. Steer clear of all processed foods and sugar, and eat a plant-based diet that is also high in healthy omega-3 fats in such foods as avocados and wild caught (or sustainably raised farmed) salmon.

Other integrative supportive measures include neurofeedback, low level laser, PEMF, hyperbaric oxygen, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), and acupuncture. The bottom line here is that while we still have a lot to learn, there are increasing resources for treating this serious condition. Most exciting right now is the promise of CBD or more properly, Full Spectrum Hemp Oil Extract for treating TBI.

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The causes of depression and mood disorders remain an area of controversy. Human beings are prepared to react to vastly varied environmental factors. Not surprisingly, many biological and psychological factors cut in more than one direction. Metabolic factors (inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress) are not necessarily one-direction in terms of causation, for example, with regard to emotional and physical stress and the resulting stress hormones (glucocorticoids). Sex hormones (testosterone, estrogen), likewise, both influence and are influenced by emotional and physical factors.

Is Inflammation the Central Issue?
The concept of inflammation in the last few years has been stretched to cover more and more forms of illness and dysfunction. One reason is that inflammation is actually a set of responses that occur naturally all the time, yet each of which can itself escape proper regulation. You get a sense of this from the article on inflammation available online from Wikipedia: “Inflammation is a protective response that involves immune cells, blood vessels, and molecular mediators. The purpose of inflammation is to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out necrotic cells and tissues damaged from the original insult and the inflammatory process, and to initiate tissue repair.” Inflammation thus involves both destruction and repair.

A number of researchers are looking into the issue of neuroinflammation outside of the traditional medical areas of concern, such as stroke. For instance, psychological stress has been demonstrated to increase neuroinflammation in animal models.⁴ Similarly, there is evidence to support the position that links chronic depression to chronic brain inflammation and acute depression to stress-triggered neuronal microdamage.⁵ Another line of argument is that the “metabolic syndrome and its individual components induce a pro-inflammatory state that damages blood vessels. This condition of chronic inflammation may damage the vasculature of the brain or be directly neurotoxic.”⁶

Countering Depression without Drugs
Inflammation and the metabolic syndrome are closely linked in physiology and biochemistry. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that studies on obesity, diet and exercise habits often turn up implications for preventing and treating depression. For example, a large study of 15,093 people published in 2015 indicated that depression could be linked with nutrient deficits. The best results were found with two essentially Mediterranean-style diets. These diets overlapped in terms of foods such as omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and moderate alcohol intake. Another finding was that there apparently is a threshold effect, meaning that a certain level of protective foods needed to be in the diet, but that benefits in terms of reduced risk of depression plateaued after this threshold was passed.⁷

It is difficult to find many nutrients that can be given as dietary supplements that cross the blood-brain barrier. Many of the nutrients that are of use are from berries. Pterostilbene, but not resveratrol, is a potent neuromodulator in aging and Alzheimer’s disease.⁸ “Blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, grape and plum juices or extracts have been successfully tested in cognitively impaired rodents. Published trials of the benefits of grape and blueberry juice in the treatment of small numbers of cognitively impaired persons have recently appeared.”⁹ Another potentially useful item in this regard is the Chinese herb known as blue dogbane, Apocynum venetum. This interesting item, virtually unknown outside of Asia, exerts proven anti-depressant effects, in part, via brain monoamine levels and the dopaminergic system. The latter, again, is influenced by pterostilbene, but not resveratrol.¹⁰ Of importance regarding the impact of Apocynum venetum on inflammation is its high content of the potent antioxidant / anti-inflammatory, isoquercitrin.¹¹

A complementary option to the foregoing nutrients is to reduce the impact of stress. Phosphatidylserine (PS) supports the brain’s physiological processing of stress and promotes neuronal communication by its effect on cell membrane fluidity. It is a natural phospholipid that is an essential component of cell membranes. PS promotes brain function by increasing neuronal membrane fluidity (cell-to-cell communication), resulting in improved cognition. Also, PS protects against stress by mitigating the actions of cortisol (catabolic stress hormone.) Human research routinely demonstrates these benefits and suggests the usefulness of a combination with DHA, e.g., “The results demonstrate that consumption of 100 mg/day of PS-DHA might be associated with improving or maintaining cognitive status in elderly subjects with memory complaints.”¹²

Finally, there is the issue of the relation between Alzheimer’s and sugar consumption. In old age, there tends to be an increasingly significant association between forms of cognitive impairment and depression. Some believe there’s a connection between sugar intake and Alzheimer’s disease. There are a number of theories as to why this might be. One argument is that increased consumption of simple carbohydrates leads to blood brain barrier degradation and subsequently to damage to the hippocampus.¹³ A related argument is that increased consumption of simple carbohydrates leads to elevations of specific advanced glycation end products (AGEs), especially the neurotoxic methyl-glyoxal derivatives (MG). High levels of AGEs also are correlated with reduced insulin sensitivity in older human adults. These factors promote chronic oxidant stress and inflammation in the brain.¹⁴

Endnotes:

1. Lavretsky H, Alstein LL, Olmstead RE, Ercoli LM, Riparetti-Brown M, Cyr NS, Irwin MR. Complementary use of tai chi chih augments escitalopram treatment of geriatric depression: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2011 Oct;19(10):839–50.
2. Gartlehner G, Gaynes BN, Amick HR, Asher G, Morgan LC, Coker- Schwimmer E, Forneris C, Boland E, Lux LJ, Gaylord S, Bann C, Pierl CB, Lohr KN. Nonpharmacological Versus Pharmacological Treatments for Adult Patients With Major Depressive Disorder [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2015 Dec.
3. Gartlehner G, Gaynes BN, Amick HR, Asher GN, Morgan LC, Coker- Schwimmer E, Forneris C, Boland E, Lux LJ, Gaylord S, Bann C, Pierl CB, Lohr KN. Comparative Benefits and Harms of Antidepressants, Psychological, Complementary, and Exercise Treatments for Major Depression: An Evidence Report for a Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Feb 9. [Epub ahead of print]
4. Barnum CJ, Pace TW, Hu F, Neigh GN, Tansey MG. Psychological stress in adolescent and adult mice increases neuroinflammation and attenuates the response to LPS challenge. J Neuroinflammation. 2012 Jan 16;9:9.
5. Wager-Smith K, Markou A. Depression: a repair response to stress-induced neuronal microdamage that can grade into a chronic neuroinflammatory condition? Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2011 Jan;35(3):742–64.
6. Cherniack EP. A berry thought-provoking idea: the potential role of plant polyphenols in the treatment of age-related cognitive disorders. Br J Nutr. 2012 Sep;108(5):794–800.
7. Sánchez-Villegas A, Henríquez-Sánchez P, Ruiz-Canela M, Lahortiga F, Molero P, Toledo E, Martínez-González MA. A longitudinal analysis of diet quality scores and the risk of incident depression in the SUN Project. BMC Med. 2015 Sep 17;13:197.
8. Chang J, Rimando A, Pallas M, Camins A, Porquet D, Reeves J, Shukitt- Hale B, Smith MA, Joseph JA, Casadesus G. Low-dose pterostilbene, but not resveratrol, is a potent neuromodulator in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging. 2012 Sep;33(9):2062–71.
9. Cherniack EP. A berry thought-provoking idea: the potential role of plant polyphenols in the treatment of age-related cognitive disorders. Br J Nutr. 2012 Sep;108(5):794–800.
10. Zheng M, Fan Y, Shi D, Liu C. Antidepressant-like effect of flavonoids extracted from Apocynum venetum leaves on brain monoamine levels and dopaminergic system. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 May 2;147(1):108–13.
11. Butterweck V, Nishibe S, Sasaki T, Uchida M. Antidepressant effects of apocynum venetum leaves in a forced swimming test. Biol Pharm Bull. 2001 Jul;24(7):848–51.
12. Vakhapova V, Cohen T, Richter Y, Herzog Y, Kam Y, Korczyn AD. Phosphatidylserine containing omega-3 Fatty acids may improve memory abilities in nondemented elderly individuals with memory complaints: results from an open-label extension study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2014;38(1–2):39–45.
13. Hsu TM, Kanoski SE. Blood-brain barrier disruption: mechanistic links between Western diet consumption and dementia. Front Aging Neurosci. 2014 May 9;6:88.
14. Cai W, Uribarri J, Zhu L, Chen X, Swamy S, Zhao Z, Grosjean F, Simonaro C, Kuchel GA, Schnaider-Beeri M, Woodward M, Striker GE, Vlassara H. Oral glycotoxins are a modifiable cause of dementia and the metabolic syndrome in mice and humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 1;111(13):4940–5.

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As a practitioner of energy psychology and follower of energy healing in general, I was intrigued. Then, after hearing him speak at the annual Energy Psychology conference in Toronto, (CAIET.org), I was hooked. Eric is funny, smart, and totally charming, more like a borscht belt stand-up comic than our usual notion of healer-speaker-expert.

Then I took the plunge and went to his annual Reconnection Healing seminar in Los Angeles. I was not disappointed; rather, I was educated entertained and uplifted. I saw with my own eyes how “spontaneous” healing can occur outside our usual belief systems of time and possibility. I was impressed at my ability and that of others to step into the process and have a real effect. They sure didn’t teach us this in medical school!

What Eric had accidentally stumbled across was what he describes as a “unique frequency or bandwidth” comprised of light, information and energy that actually corrects physical and emotional imbalances. As I learned in his seminar, he teaches people how to become a catalyst in healing others by learning how to interact with these new frequencies that “reconnect” us to our “original blueprint.” Stay with me here-there is some science to follow.

While seeing injured and chronically ill people get off a table instantly healed may seem like “magic” or “faith,” (and we know the power of the placebo effect) there is a growing body of hard science that is emerging on Reconnective Healing, explaining why it is a fast-growing new form of alternative healing world-over.

• Three major scientists are leading the inquiry—Dr. Kontstantin Korotkov, Deputy Director of Saint-Petersburg Federal Research Institute of Physical Culture;Dr. Gary Schwartz of the University of Arizona, and Professor Emeritus of Stanford University, and Dr. William Tiller (Stanford Prof. Emeritus) and founder of The William A. Tiller Foundation for New Science in Payson, Arizona. Dr. Tiller is the author of eight books, 250 scientific papers and star of the film What The Bleep…!? Four of his books are on psychoenergetic science.

Many of their studies are chronicled in the recent book, Science Confirms Reconnective Healing by Korotkov. Here are just a few of those findings:

• A former director of the University of Arizona’s Human Energy Systems Laboratory, Schwartz has performed multiple major controlled experiments there that have substantiated the electromagnetic transference in Reconnective Healing. Underway is a study measuring range of motion changes when the Reconnective frequencies are engaged.
• Tiller was able to gauge a huge energy upsurge in The Reconnection workshop rooms. Schwartz did a study that concluded aspiring Reconnective Healing Practitioners gain abilities to produce vibrational waves of energy via the Reconnective Healing that they learn at the seminars.
• Korotkov has demonstrated significant improvement in Olympic athletes’ peak performance once exposed to the Reconnective Healing frequencies. Energy parameters significantly increased almost immediately, while 10 days later their improvement became even more statistically significant. His studies have shown decreases in blood pressure, increases in metabolic, immune, antitoxin and antioxidant activity in the body, improved cardiovascular function and even improvements in their DNA.

What these scientists surmise from their findings is that Pearl is working with a cutting-edge new form of “information medicine”—in the words of Tiller—who explains further: “When information carried through these frequencies is introduced, it creates coherence and order within the field and the body itself.” The result can be seen in the dramatic reports of regeneration instead of degeneration, and account after account of apparently unexplainable, often instantaneous and life-long healings.

These bandwidths, which seem to be newly present in our planetary energy field, appear to innately “know” what needs to be healed. Pearl says that you are returned to an optimal and appropriate state of balance merely by experiencing or interacting with this healing continuum. The trained Reconnective Healing practitioner simply facilitates the process. By feeling the frequencies and playing with them—an act that appears as if the healer is stretching taffy in the air—physical and emotional health shifts suddenly come about.

We can see the impact on the person receiving Reconnective Healing as their closed eyes flutter and begin to rapidly dart back and forth, fingers or feet move as if of their own volition, and even involuntary muscles of the face move in a way that are unlikely to happen intentionally. All this occurs even though the practitioner isn’t even touching the client! These involuntary body movements—referred to as registers—are a demonstration that the client has entered into a different state, one where healing often occurs.

The information-laden frequencies reconnect us to our original fullness as human beings, according to Pearl, and seemingly restore us to a more complete connection with the universe.

More than a decade ago, when Pearl perceived the results of what was transpiring with his patients and saw its transformative power, he closed his practice as a chiropractor, so he could go out and share this skill with the world. Pearl’s book is now published in 36 languages and he has taught Reconnective Healing to 70,000 people around the globe in more than 70 countries.

Today when the cost of healthcare has skyrocketed and insurance is either unaffordable or barely covers what the average person requires to stay healthy, there is true benefit in literally taking healing into our own hands for ourselves, our loved ones and for those we can serve. Reconnective Healing, with its growing body of scientific proof and its legions of those who point to its efficacy, is a promising breakthrough.

While I am quite impressed here, both with my personal experience at the seminar, as well as the research data, I also know there are many other forms and schools of healing, some with their own well-documented research. Is this method substantially different from others? I invite your comments about how they compare, especially if you’ve had personal experience in any of these.

If you want to know more about about Reconnective Healing, go to: www.TheReconnection.com.

Citations from Science Confirms Reconnective Healing” by Konstantin Korotkov:

1. Korotkov K. Aura and Consciousness: New Stage of Scientific Understanding. St. Petersburg, Russia: State Editing and Publishing Unit—Kultura?. 1998
2. Korotkov K., Williams B., Wisneski L. Biophysical Energy Transfer Mechanisms in Living Systems: The Basis of Life Processes. J of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004 10, 1, 49-57.
3. Polushin J, Levshankov A, Shirokov D, Korotkov K. Monitoring Energy Levels during treatment with GDV Technique. J of Science of Healing Outcome. 2:5. 5- 15, 2009?
4. Bundzen P. V., Korotkov K. G., Korotkova A. K., Mukhin V. A., and Priyatkin N. S. Psychophysiological Correlates of Athletic Success in Athletes Training for the Olympics; Human Physiology, Vol. 31, No. 3, 2005, pp. 316-323.
5. Measuring Energy Fields: State of the Art. GDV Bioelectrography series. Vol. I. Korotkov K. (Ed.). Backbone Publishing Co. Fair Lawn, USA, 2004. 270 p.
6. Korotkov K.G., Matravers P, Orlov D.V., Williams B.O. Application of Electrophoton Capture (EPC) Analysis Based on Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) Technique in Medicine: A Systematic Review. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. January 2010, 16(1): 13-25.
7. Korotkov K, Orlov D, Madappa K. New Approach for Remote Detection of Human Emotions. Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine o V 19, N 3, pp 1- 15, 2009

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Epigenetics is a word unfamiliar to most of us, but is becoming better known daily. This emerging science^1,2 is steadily revealing the causes of many of the world’s most challenging medical disorders, such as cancer and heart disease, and is providing a roadmap for developing vastly improved therapies. New research indicates that many mental disorders also appear to be epigenetic in nature, and that improved treatments are available for such conditions as schizophrenia, clinical depression, autism, ADHD, and criminal behavior.³ Moreover, these new therapies are based on natural substances rather than pharmaceutical drugs, with their inexact targets and difficult side effects. This is the subject of Dr. Walsh’s information-packed new book, Nutrient Power; Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain.⁴

There are more than a trillion cells in the human body, and each cell contains an identical copy of a person’s DNA. However, the genes expressed in brain, kidney, skin, heart and other tissues must clearly be different from each other, and this gene programming is established in a fetus during the first few months of development. In order to obtain the correct mix of enzymes and proteins in different organs, some genes are selectively “turned off” and others “turned on”. This process is called epigenetics which means “above genetics”.⁵ We are now learning that many diseases previously thought to be genetic are instead epigenetic in nature. The culprit is usually an environmental insult that alters gene expression “bookmarks” either in utero or later in life. Since deviant bookmarks can survive many cell divisions, the problem doesn’t go away.

There is considerable evidence that epigenetic errors are responsible for the mental breakdowns in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, the sudden emergence of OCD, and the shocking symptoms associated with severe autism.

Dr. Walsh’s book presents a science-based nutrient therapy system that could help millions of individuals who are challenged by mental disorders. This approach recognizes that nutrient imbalances can alter brain levels of key neurotransmitters, disrupt gene expression of proteins and enzymes, and cripple the body’s protection against environmental toxins. The author’s database containing millions of chemical factors in blood, urine, and tissues has identified brain-changing nutrient imbalances in patients diagnosed with ADHD, autism, behavior disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s Disease. On a practical level, we test patients, then treat based on the results.

Nutrient Power describes individualized nutrient therapy treatments that have produced thousands of reports of recovery. A seeming paradox, this modality is more scientific than trial-and- error use of psychiatric drugs, and is aimed a true normalization of the brain.

It’s clear from my 25-plus years of psychiatric practice that Dr. Walsh is correct: Depression, schizophrenia, and ADHD are umbrella terms that encompass disorders with widely differing brain chemistries and symptoms. This book describes nutrient therapies tailored for five depression biotypes, three schizophrenia biotypes, and various ADHD conditions. Other book highlights include the Walsh Theory of Schizophrenia; an epigenetic model of autism; a promising new Alzheimer’s treatment; and recommendations for reducing crime and violence.⁶ I can attest to some of these methods since I have been treating patients successfully with targeted nutrients for many years. Dr. Walsh refines the approach, has new scientific explanations for why they work, and shows how poor genetic expression can be completely corrected with the specific diet and supplement recommendations.

Dr. Walsh states that today’s emphasis on prescription medications will not stand the test of time, and that psychiatry needs a new direction. He points out that psychiatric drugs suffer from a fundamental limitation – they involve foreign molecules that result in an abnormal condition rather than producing desired normalcy. Psychiatric medications have served society well over the past 50 years, but the need for drug therapies will gradually fade away as brain science advances.

He recommends a national research effort to develop biochemical therapies that use chemicals natural to the body to normalize brain function, and thus avoid the nagging problem of drug side effects. If he’s right, we could be approaching a new era in the field of mental health. Marguerite Kelly, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, state, and I fully agree, that “This book could change medical history”.

About the author: Dr. William J. Walsh is president or the nonprofit Walsh Research Institute in Illinois and directs physician-training programs internationally including in Australia and Norway. Dr. Walsh has authored more than 200 scientific articles and reports and has five patents. He has presented his experimental research at the American Psychiatric Association, the U.S. Senate, the National Institutes of Mental Health, and has been a speaker at 28 international conferences. He has developed biochemical treatments for patients with behavioral disorders, ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease that are used by doctors throughout the world.

References

1. Maulik N, Maulik G, eds. (2011). Nutrition, Epigenetic Mechanisms, and Human Disease. CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL.
2. Suzuki M M, Bird A P.(2008).DNA methylation landscapes: provocative insights from epigenomics. Nat Rev. Genet. 9(6):465-476.
3. BredyTW,SunYe,KoborMS.(2010).How the epigenome contributes to the development of psychiatric disorders. Dev Psychobiol. 52(4):331-342.
4. Walsh W J(2012). Nutrient Power. Skyhorse Publishing:NewYork,NY.
5. Berger S L, KouzaridesT, Schickhatter R, Shilatifard A.(2009). An operational definition of epigenetics. Genes Dev. 23(7):781-783.
6. Walsh W J, Glab L B, Haakenson M L.(2004).Reduced violent behavior following biochemical therapy. Physiol Behav. 82:835-839.

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