Healing of the Brain

[luCKy]

Good article:

Brains can recover from alcoholic damage but patients should stop drinking as soon as possible

Thanks lucky.......interesting and encouraging article, but am pissed off at how they excluded heavy smokers from their study, as can`t deduce if the brain of a smoker would recover as rapidly after quitting drinking. No worries.......am going on the nicotine patches on Mon.......hoping against hope that I can quit my last remaining disgusting habit.

Starlight Impress x

[Roberta Jewell]

Lucky,

Thanks for sharing this information. I've been following this with a great deal of interest for some time and was thrilled to learn that we can, in fact, recover from alcohol induced damage to our brains. For many years, researchers said this simply wasn't true. It's also one of the reasons I've been so passionate about promoting exercise. Recent animal studies indicate physical exercise may stimulate protective mechanisms that contribute to brain recovery.

As you know, many of our members are particularly concerned about this topic because one of the medications they take, Topamax, can further exacerbate, at least short term, cognitive capabilities. Some people have found that the nootroprics I recommend in my book, Olmifon and Adrafinil, are helpful in getting them over the hump. But what about long term?

For those who struggle with this, or are interested in more information, I highly recommend "The Better Brain Book" by David Perlmutter, M.D. It's well researched and contains a specific action plan to help you improve your memory and prevent early brain aging. His recommendations for dietary supplements include the Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C, Coenzyme Q10, Vitamin D, DHA, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Ginko Biloba, NAC, and Vinpocetine. Please see the book for details; you'll be asked to do a brain audit and a specific plan will be suggested.

Another supplement Perlmutter recommends and one we're very excited about is Phosphatidylserine, or PS. Of particular interest is the work of Dr. Thomas Crook, a highly regarded researcher who published a study in the Journal of Neurology regarding his clinical trial with 149 healthy men and women. The results were staggering. Crook concluded that phosphatidylserine was able to turn the clock back on the subjects' brains by an average of 12 years. The abstract is here and an article from Better Nutrition provides more information.

We now sell PS in our Health Store in the new "Brain Health" section but you can source it from many places. We encourage you to learn more about this remarkable supplement and the dozens of studies that have been conducted related to its protective and healing properties.

For anyone who is serious about ramping up your brain power, we would challenge you to do the following for the next 12 weeks:

* Take a PS supplement every day (100 to 300 mg daily, preferably a brand with Ginko Biloba)
* Make an effort to exercise your mind each day. Do word games, puzzles, learn a new word.
* Give yourself a regular quiz. For instance, before attending an event or watching a television show, write a list of ten questions. Test yourself afterwards to see how well you answered. Keep track of your results from the beginning to end of the 12 week period.
* Do relaxation exercises daily if you do not now
* Make sure to take your regular supplements
* Exercise at least 20-30 minutes three times a week
* Get adequate sleep
* Laugh! And keep a positive attitude. Nip negative thoughts in the bud.
* If you drink, do so in moderation
* Eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and veggies.

Report back in 12 weeks and let us know how you're doing!

RJ

Thanks RJ,
Reversing 12 yrs` worth of damage inflicted on the brain by alcohol is amazing........PS is very interesting.

Also, we should all take exercise seriously if it can aid brain recovery.

Starlight Impress x

[chrysa]

Looks like "synchronicity" here...or is it the holy spirit?!! Please, please, please tell me this was not a set up and it is the universe speaking.

[hippie37]

While we have known for three decades that smoking is a leading cause of cancer death, we have finally acknowledged that second hand smoke can cause the same problems as firsthand smoke. When Nicotine is absent in the user, the individual experiences withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, in many cases, people are at risk to live with heart complications for the rest of their lives. People who use tobacco products frequently depend upon it to provide these side effects to help them accomplish certain tasks at specific levels. On the average, tobacco use increases the heart rate 10 to 20 beats per minute and it increases the blood pressure reading by 5 to 10 millimeters of mercury (because it constricts the blood vessels). This tolerance and inherent addiction is what makes stopping smoking so difficult. Nicotine's effect upon hormonal activities is also present. A company called Celanese has created a chemical that, when injected in the human body, intercepts nicotine before it gets to the brain. It also contains greater amounts of nicotine and tar, both strong and addictive toxins

) Nicotine is felt, by many researches and scientists including the surgeon general, to be as addictive as heroin or cocaine. In early 1993, in fact, the EPA classified second hand smoke a Class A carcinogen. The Public Health Service has declared cigarettes and tobacco to be our most common form of drug dependency

Something a friend and I were discussing only 6 months ago was the effects of smoking from an addiction point of view. The above text was a return post I got off him. I've always thought tobacco was a more addictive drug than some Class A drugs and alcohol.

I've smoked for years know and I must admit I've never thought of quitting until I decided to stop drinking. I started out as a social smoker or a pissed smoker I should say. The booze and the fags went hand in hand but I progressed into smoking full time about 10 years ago. I'd love to give them up but I want to concentrate on the booze first.

Love and Happiness
Hippie
xx

I feel relatively safe from the booze now, hip. I`ve smoked 20 a day for the past 25 yrs. and had never even given quitting a thought until I quit the booze. Strange thing is, since I quit the drink, I find that my tolerance of tobacco smoke is much reduced........I really do find the habit totally vile now, so I think that says I will manage to quit. Am not being over-ambitious though........would be nice to think I could manage to be an ex-smoker by Christmas.

Starlight Impress x

[Roberta Jewell]

Not a set up or the universe speaking so far as I know. Simply me sharing some research as we introduce a new product. Lucky knew nothing of this so I want to be clear if there is any question about it. I had posted similar research a couple months ago as some of you may recall, because I have a particular interest in this subject.

Thanks for all feedback.

RJ

[chrysa]

Beautiful! "Great minds run in the same gutter"...you know how powerful ideas are transmitted such that scientists come up with the same discovery at the same time. Fascinating phenomena.

[xtexan]

I too have been investigating some of the phospholipid nutrients.

Common lecithin, derived from soybeans, contains three prominent phospholipids which are phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylinositol.

My grandmother always said lecithin was good for alcohol recovery, and I believe the mechanisms are sound. Scientific studies seem inconclusive on that particular front.

Add to that, the PS, or phosphatidylserine is also derived from soy, then perhaps it makes some sense to increase soy products in our diets.

I switched over to soy milk here recently, about three months ago when I began my new diet, and it seems to make a difference. In addition, a lot of the other food products I buy now have soy proteins, or whole soy flour in them.

Perhaps the common soybean, which is grown around here in many fields, has more benefits to the recovering drinker than has yet been found.

On the exercise front, many of you know that I cross-train in a wide variety of exercises. In my thinking, activating as many different systems as possible, via different exertion modes, can only be of greater total benefit than just one type of activity. I switch back and forth between muscular resistance and cardio type exercise on alternate days. 6 days a week. About 20-30 minutes each session, with alternate methods of stretching to compliment the activity.

It works!!

Be well.

Neil