Who has a brain disorder?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Brain disorders are definitely on the rise. It is now recognized that 1 in 8 senior citizens will develop Alzheimer's but this is not just and aging issue because 1 in 8 children are also diagnosed with brain development disorders such as autism, ADD and ADHD. Estimates share that people living with incidents of dementia have been estimated to be as high as 24 million people with the number predicted to double every 20 years until at least 2040.

Add to this that anxiety disorders, obsessive/compulsive disorders, learning disabilities and depression are extremely common these days. On top of this, sleep disorders, poor mental clarity mild depression and moodiness are actually very common.

With all this said, it is no surprise the antidepressants are the most prescribed drugs in the United States. Brain disorders have now become what we would consider commonplace.

Since I witnessed both my mother and grandmother deteriorate with severe dementia before their deaths, I can share that you want to do everything you can to prevent this and other brain disorders.

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to discuss some of the common factors leading to brain disorders. Pay close attention to those areas where you think, "that sounds like me."

Did you know that the extreme mood swings associated with premenstrual syndrome, perimenopause and menopause are most often hormone driven brain imbalances and brain inflammation? Unfortunately in our culture most women are taught that this is actually normal, when it is anything but normal.

OK guys, before you start thinking "whew, I don't have to worry about that" your not out of the woods. This is the same for men as they drop into andropause, also referred to as male menopause. When a man's hormone function is in disarray this can lead a lack of motivation, weight gain, the typically "grumpy old man" syndrome or what has been come to be known as the "mid-life crisis."

Both menopause and andropause create and environment for early brain degeneration that is most often preceeded by a poor functioning brain. And round and round we go...

Another hormonal area to understand in regard to brain function is the thyroid. Did you know that an estimated 27 million Americans are living with thyroid dysfunction and that this can profoundly impact brain health? This combination can lead to brain fog, depression, anxiety and other brain based challenges. This can often accelerate brain degeneration and even coexist with brain autoimmunity.

With this understanding of hormone driven brain chemistry imbalances, it is always important to get to the bottom of the hormone imbalances. Most hormone imbalances originate as adrenal insufficiency.

Over my career we have reviewed approximately 4,500 adrenal test kits and have only seen 5 come back normal. Yes, ONLY 5!

In fairness, at Depke Wellness, we work with health challenged individuals but this tells us that if you have a health issue, there is only about 1/10 of one percent chance that you have healthy adrenal function. Based on what we have discussed earlier in this article in regard to brain function, menopause, andropause and thyroid dysfunction, take a guess at what affects all of these areas.

If you guessed adrenal function, you are right on!

While your adrenal function plays a role in so many areas of your body, this will directly affect thyroid function, ovary function, inflammatory states and neural connectivity. So when we are looking hormone drive brain based disorders, it is essential to understand your personal adrenal function.

Based on years of this focus here at Depke Wellness we always recommend adrenal saliva testing so you can understand adrenal function throughout the day. We would look at cortisol production at four times during the day, a total cortisol and a DHEA average but that's not all. We also look at estradiol, estriol, progesterone, testosterone and melatonin. This provides us the necessary information to make recommendations to assist your body in balancing adrenal function. With proper adrenal function, you can begin to enjoy further balance with the thyroid, ovaries, inflammatory states and brain function.

While adrenal function may not be the "end all" for your brain disorder, it is the most significant starting point for hormone related brain disorders. So call our office today at (949)954-6226 and request a #205 adrenal saliva test kit and move forward with your goals of health and happiness. 

If you have any comments or questions, please post these below for us to address personally.

Adrenal Summit Q/A

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

First I would like to provide a heartfelt thank you to all of you that participated in The Adrenal Summit. Except for a few technical glitches that as been such a pleasant experience because of all you you. The out pouring of thanks and gratitude has been amazing and leaves me speechless, which is hard to do. LOL!

So to all of you, thank you for being so amazing!

We will now take this opportunity to address some lingering questions about the summit or areas that some of you feel were not addressed for your specific challenges. These are questions from you, our followers, that will not only assist those that proposed the questions but likely most everyone reading this today.

Here we go...

• The number one question that I received from everyone is, how do we get The Adrenal Summit now that this is complete? I am truly honored that so many of you asked this question. If you want your own copy of all these interviews to enjoy at your leisure go to this link provided.

• What were the Dr Daniel Kalish's "big five"? Dan's "big five" was fat, fatigued, depressed, digestive problems and female hormone issues. These are basically the areas that Dr Kalish most often recognizes when individuals have longer term adrenal challenges.

• I am very interested in Dr Osborne's view that foods could take up to 2 weeks to manifest symptoms, which means the presumed 'gold standard' of a 4 day rotation diet for reintroducing foods and monitoring symptoms may not be accurate. This is very true and as we learn more and more about food sensitivity, it is important to adjust our thinking with new information. Here is a response directly from ImmunoLabs:
  
  Potential 2 week delayed reaction for a food sensitivity:
  Length of time for a delayed reactions depend on the individual’s body. We have found that people notice their delayed symptoms within several minutes to a few days. Our physicians work more hands on with patients than we do and we have not heard exact time lines from the patients we work with other than they will feel relief in as quickly as a day to a few days to maybe a week. There are situations where someone feels worse before they feel better and then feel better within a month. As long as they continue to avoid their reactive foods, they will continue to benefit. After 90 days they can reintroduce the reactive foods one at a time to determine if it is still an issue. After all foods have been reintroduced and determined “okay” or not, we then recommend retesting every 6 months as their reactive foods will drop by about 50% from initial test to retest. After their retest we still recommend continuing to test and especially to expand their testing panel to ensure they do not have Candida, Gluten Intolerances, H. Pylori, IgE Allergies (immediate reactions), as well as further exploration into Milk and Egg if that was ever an issue.

• What are the main factors again that trigger adrenal fatigue? The main triggers are as listed below:
• The standard American diet (SAD), high in sugar and processed foods
• Food sensitivity such as gluten, cross reactivity or other food sensitivity
• Chronic stress or suppressed emotions
• Chronic inflammation
• Chronic infection  

• I gave up gluten and I did not feel any different, does this mean it's not an issue? Actually 86% of people that have a gluten sensitivity are actually asymptomatic. I have had clients share in the past that they have been gluten free and they do not feel that this has created an improvement in their health. While many will actually notice an improvement, those that are not seeing this can understand that giving up gluten when gluten sensitive will actually play a role in slowing or stopping the progression of health symptoms.

• He mentions 5 different tests for food reactions (IgG, IgA, IgM, T cell , immune complex). I know Cyrex labs do IgG & IgA for cross reactive foods etc, but where do we get the other 3 please? I am from UK. The two companies that are best suited for these tests are ImmunoLabs and Cyrex Labs. Both companies are available in the UK and I would recommend stating with the Immuno Bloodprint 154 and the Cyrex Array #3. Here is an addition from ImmunoLabs directly:
  
  Several measures for food reactions (IgA, IgE, IgG, IgM, T Cells, Immune Complex):
  We primarily test for IgG (Bloodprint® tests) and IgE (environment, food, mold, etc. panels). We also test for IgA through some of our additional tests (ex: Anti-Gliadin test). We do not test for IgM, T Cell, nor immune complex due to the issues around precision of knowing you have pinpointed the true reactions versus false negatives and positives. There are companies that perform testing on food allergies and sensitivities through those immune pathways and we have several clients that stopped testing with them due to issues around getting the best patient outcomes. If you truly want to know the companies then I will provide their names, but since the results can be inaccurate and won’t lead to improving the patient’s health condition, I hesitate. Let me know if there is something specific other than just food allergies that the person was looking to find through those immune pathways.

• Based on Dr Bowden's interview, is is more important to focus on the adrenals or pancreas? Actually it is important to focus on both but thankfully what you do for one typically assist both. Here are some areas that will assist both adrenal and pancreas function:
• Reduce stress or learn tools to perceive stress in a healthier way
• Lower consumption of sugar and processed carbohydrates
• Get to bed earlier

• Please could someone direct me to reputable up to date resources about protocols for elimination diets and reintroduction of foods (for those foods just suspected to be a reaction developed secondary to intestinal permeability , and not due to immune antibody response). In my opinion one of the best ways to reintroduce food is based on Lyn-Genet's The Plan. Both myself and my wife use her protocols personally and the results are amazing! It actually takes this to a whole other level. You can get this info at:
  Click here to order your copy of The New York Times bestseller The Plan on Amazon!

• What should I do if I have a stage III adrenal insufficiency with burst training? If you have are in stage III adrenal insufficiency I would suggest starting slow with burst training. Perhaps 30 seconds of burst training followed by 60 seconds of casual movement would be a good start. From there you can work on increasing your burst training. If you are in stage III, please be sure to move forward with caution to not create further issues. As a side note, if you have low cortisol in the morning, it would be awesome to do 30 seconds of burst training in the morning within 10 minutes of waking.

• According to the interview with Glen Depke on chronic inflammation is it best to work on adrenal function or inflammation first? In the perfect world, we would address adrenal function just before inflammation. I also want to share that if you address inflammatory states, this will also assist with adrenal function since this is a major trigger for adrenal dysfunction.

• Did I hear it correctly from Linda Clark that as toxins go through a phase I to phase II liver detoxification are actually more toxic, and what does this mean? Yes, you are correct in what you heard. As toxins in your body are converted from a fat soluble toxin to a water soluble toxin, they are now more toxin than they were in the first place. This does not have a significance unless you are not having two or more bowel movements per day. If you are having one bowel movement or less per day

• I think of stress as emotional, yet Sue Ingebretson mentioned other forms of stress. Can you expand on this? Absolutely. While most people think of stress as mental/emotional only, there are actually many forms of stress that are potentially affecting us daily. This could be physical stress tied into inflammation, injury or illness. This could be chemical stress based on toxins in our environment, foods, water and even the toxic expression of negatively perceived emotions. So definitely look at stress from every level and address each and every level that is impacting your health and wellness.

• When listening to Dr Janda, it seems as if infection is a bigger issue than most would think and potentially difficult to recognize. What is the best way to test for infection? Based the interview with Dr Janda, the best way to test for infection in the body is via Applied Kiniseology or A/K. This is a form of muscle testing and there are other forms of muscle testing such as Autonomic Response Testing or ART. In my practice, I often recommend a comprehensive stool collection kit to test for gut infections and I find that the best way to address this is with both. This "best of both worlds" is often the key because muscle testing and stool testing can uncover different yet essential challenges.

• I would have never thought of what Manny described as "fighting gravity" as an issue for my health. Can you expand on this in any way? I did propose this question to Manny and he actually mentioned that he is going to write his newsletter article this week on this subject. Here is the link to Manny's article for you.

• I loved Lynda's talk on the thyroid but I am confused. I have been diagnosed and hypothyroid, I take thyroid medications but I still suffer with all the same symptoms. What gives? As Lynda mentioned in her interview, thyroid issues are most often not even a thyroid problem. Most often this is an adrenal, gut, liver and/or autoimmune issue. Lynda mentioned looking at the adrenals first and moving on from there until you have addressed all the underlying issues.

• Listening to the talk on obesity, it seems as if there is no hope when your weight is out of control. Did I miss something? Help! There is not only hope, but there are answers. I would suggest looking at adrenal function and cross reactive food sensitivities. This in itself can make create a huge shift in regard to weight loss. From there I would suggest looking at the chronic inflammation and the feed back loops that recycle these chronic inflammatory states.

• I have to share that I am in my forties and have never been to a chiropractor. After listening to Dr Fletcher, I feel as if I am missing out on something. Where do you feel chiropractic care fits in an overall wellness program? Actually when I have a new client in my office, I always recommend that they see a chiropractor if they are not already. Far too often individuals do not see a chiropractor unless they have an accident of some sort or noticeable back issues. Waiting for these situations is basically waiting too long to see a chiropractor. We have two chiropractors in our office and personally I have a chiropractic visit very 7 to 10 days.

If anyone else has further questions, feel free post these below and they will be addressed personally. We want to make sure that all your questions are addressed properly.

If you have not grabbed your copy of the Adrenal Summit 2014, catch this here!

 

Can't sleep, no energy?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So many people are dealing with a cycle of poor sleep and lack of energy through the day, to the point that we could almost consider this an epidemic.

The interesting aspect of the sleep is that many individuals are not even aware that they are not sleeping well, so let's define this first. Optimal sleep is going to be somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30PM depending on the time of the year and waking near the time that the sun comes up. You would of course fall asleep very quickly and the sleep is unbroken  and if you happen to wake to use the bathroom, you will quickly fall back into a deep sleep. At the conclusion of the optimal nights sleep, you will wake ready to rock and roll and take on your day. So ask yourself, does your sleep pattern look like this?

If it does not, you have some work to do. We'll chat about that in a bit.

Since most of you are not hitting and optimal sleep cycle what do you think this is going to effect throughout your day? If you guessed energy, you are right on. This is not just physical energy though, this is also mental energy, emotional energy and even what some would consider either vibrational or spiritual energy. I don't know about you, but I want this to be at the most optimal level that I can. Most of us are attempting to play a really big game in life but if we are doing this with poor sleep and energy, the game we're playing is severely limited.

If you are the person we are talking about here, what's the next step? First off I will share that based on my thousands of clients at Depke Wellness, a poor sleep cycle is generally either a digestive issue or a hormone issue. Let's look at hormones first.

When I am testing adrenal panels with my clients, I am not only looking at the typically cortisol and DHEA, I am also looking at other end result hormones, one being melatonin. Let's first understand that melatonin levels and cortisol levels should be an exact opposite. With this said, when melatonin is high, cortisol will be low and likewise. So if we see a low night time melatonin, we would typically recognize an elevated night time cortisol. This would tell us that if we could lower the night time cortisol, we would most likely see the melatonin go up simply due to the natural hormone rhythms of the body. This would then be defined as a sleep issue that has a deeper hormone tie as the core.

With this said, what if the night time cortisol is actually optimal, yet the night time melatonin is actually low? This is when we would look at this as a digestive issue.

My first point to make, it we do not recommend melatonin if melatonin is low. We are not saying that those that make this recommendation are wrong, we'll just say that we are different, and here's why. This is the natural flow from food consumption to melatonin.

• Proper consumption of protein
• Optimal digestion
• Proper breakdown of the amino acid L - tryptophan (essential amino acid)
• Most of this L - tryptophan moves toward assisting B vitamin production and absorption but this also goes down this sleep cycle
• Production of 5 - HTP from L - tryptophan
• Production of serotonin from 5 - HTP
• Finally the production of melatonin from serotonin

So you can see that while taking melatonin may actually help with sleep but it still leaves so many other deficiencies in the body. So if the night time melatonin is low along with a normal night time cortisol, this tells us to work on digestion.

Here are some of the basic levels to understand to enhance digestion.

• Take 3 to 5 deep belly breaths prior to your meal to ease any stress
• Chew your food thouroughly
• Take your Prebiotic/Probiotic Formula daily
• Take your Prime Enzyme Support with each meal
• If stomach acid is low take a Prime Stomach Acid Support after your meal
• You may want to also assess potential food sensitivities 
• If digestion has been a long term chronic issue, you may also want to look at the potential of pathogens

If we go back to the beginning here though, to understand if your sleep and lack of energy issue is either a hormone or digestive issue, assessing adrenal function as well as end result hormones is a must.

If you do not have a deep understanding of adrenal function, it's holistic effect on the body and it's underlying triggers, be sure to take a look at the Adrenal Summit. This is a complimentary event that will answer your questions and provide further information by the industry leaders listed below.

Dr Daniel Kalish, DC

Adrenal Summit Launch 

Dr. Thomas O'Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN
Gluten Sensitivity, Celiac and Adrenal Function

Dr Peter Osborne

Gluten Cross Reactivity and Adrenal Function

Dr Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

The Cortisol/Insulin Connection

Dr Josh Axe
Exercise Effects on Adrenal Function

Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Inflammation Effects on Adrenal Function

Linda Clark, M.A., Certified Nutrition Consultant (CNC)

Detoxification, Toxicity and Adrenal Health

Sue Ingebretson

Stress and the Emotional Impact on Adrenal Health

Dr Robert Janda, DC

Infection and Adrenal Function

Manny Aragon

The Structural Body and Adrenal Health

Lynda Buitrago, MS

The Thyroid/Adrenal Connection

John Lewis and Jeffery Zavik

Obesity, Sensitivity and Adrenal Function

Dr David Fletcher

Chiropractic Care and Adrenal Health

Glen Depke

Adrenal Summit Conclusion

The experts that we have for your enjoyment and education are the leaders in their field and actually the experts "experts". This event is going to create a paradigm shift and the needed education for our culture to understand adrenal fatigue, the impact this has on our health and happiness and more importantly, what we can do about this. Visit the Adrenal Summit for further information and registration for this complimentary event.