The Surprising Connection Between Wildfire Smoke and Brain Health: What You Need to Know Wildfires are getting worse. Look at what has happened in California, Greece, in Portugal. With global warming, you can be certain that there will be more devastating wildfires. Wildfires are not only ravaging the environment and endangering communities, but their smoke…
Neuroinflammation is swelling in the brain. It’s bad news. Swelling occurs in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. Alternatively, diseases such as hypertension or diabetes lead to stroke, which in turn triggers neuroinflammation. Or bad luck strikes and someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, which leads to neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammation is a common…
The Classic Case of Misfolded Proteins Did you know that misfolded proteins cause Mad Cow Disease? Strictly speaking, people don’t get Mad Cow Disease. Instead, cows do! Duh! When people eat the meat of infected cows, then they get Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CKD), a kind of dementia. CKD is a serious condition and kills you quickly.…
Misguided & Misguiding: Misfolded Proteins Proteostasis is the system our bodies use to keep proteins in functional balance. Normally, it works brilliantly. However, misfolded proteins arise when proteostasis goes wrong. This is more likely to happen the older you get. Now, you might think that misfolded proteins are not a big deal but you’d be…
Do antidepressants really work? Well, for some people with severe major depressive disorder there are some benefits. However, the less nuanced, and perhaps alarming, answer is no. Antidepressants do not work for the majority of people who use them. Do you suffer from depression? Even more to the point, do you use antidepressants? If so,…
Why do we give levodopa to people with Parkinson’s disease instead of dopamine? After all, loss of dopamine, a major neurotransmitter in the brain, characterizes Parkinson’s disease. Levodopa vs Dopamine Well, the answer is simple, if surprising. It turn out that dopamine cannot cross the blood brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a filter between…
The safety of Ritalin has been in the spotlight in recent years. Ritalin is widely used to manage the symptoms of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD). If you or your child use Ritalin, you might like to know that there is a growing body of scientific research showing that there is a small increase…
Cardiac Scar Tissue After Stroke. The consequences of stroke are long-lasting, not just on the brain but also on other parts of your body, including your heart. A study published in the esteemed journal Cell on 22/07/2024 includes some startling findings. Dr Alba Simats and colleagues found that stroke triggers persistent inflammation in multiple organs,…
How do you boost neuroplasticity after a traumatic brain injury? What can you do to ensure that you make the best recovery possible? Neuroplasticity and the Long Haul Recovery from a traumatic brain injury can be a long and difficult journey. It that may take a number of years, even longer than the two year…
Bioelectric Neuromodulation: Vagus Nerve Stimulation Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a form of bioelectric neuromodulation, a way of stimulating the brain to regulate neurophysiology. We’re getting rewarding results using vagus nerve stimulation across a range of conditions, including major depressive disorder. The idea has been around for some decades. In 2005 the FDA approved the…
