How Old is Your Brain?

Which brain do you think (or hope) you have?

You can say it depends on how old you are. It’s a fact that significant cognitive decline is NOT an inevitable consequence of aging.

Here are some more brain pictures:

 Young Adult 94 Year Old Non-Demented     77 Year Old Demented

Brain on far right is far more aged than the one in the middle (more dark areas). In other words, healthy aging brain is independent of your chronological age. It is likely that the effects of aging do accumulate with age, but it not necessary to have an aging brain as we are growing older. In fact, brain’s most unique ability is that it does not age as the rest of our body does. You can take this truth to the bank; the healthier you are, the healthier your brain is. Even more accurately, the healthier your brain is, the healthier, happier, more successful, fitter, more social and consciously aware you are!

Check out some of the graphs of relationship between the brain aging and Quality of Life, Career and Athletic Performance.

Quality of life, career/work/athletic performance, social relations and indeed health all have inverse relationship with brain aging.  

So, How Healthy Is Your Brain?

Find out here..

Signs of Mild Brain Aging:

• Easy fatigue from reading, studying, driving, other brain tasks
• Mild Depression
• Poor digestive function

Signs of Moderate Brain Aging:

• Inability to focus or concentrate
• Impaired learning or acquiring new tasks
• Chronic constipation
• Intestinal Dysbiosis (Imbalance b/w good and bad bacteria)
• Decreased digestive enzyme production
• Sympathetic nervous system up-regulation

• Elevated blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Stress
• Poor circulation

Signs of Significant Brain Aging:

• Inability to work professionally
• Inability to appreciate life
• Inability to perceive neurological loss
• Early signs of neurological disease

• Tremors
• Inability to find directions
• Severe depression

Signs of Severe Brain Aging:

• Neurological disease

• Dementia
• Alzheimer’s,
• Parkinson’s

• Uncontrolled bladder tone
• Bowel obstruction and inability to digest food
• Inability to develop social relationships
• Dependency on family and medical staff for daily functions

What Can Be Done About It?

Before I can answer this question, let’s review some basic facts about the brain. A child is born with roughly 100 billion neurons and by the age 3 has more than 1,000 trillion neuronal (or synaptic) connections. Brain development starts even earlier in the womb and continues throughout the childhood. Excessive stress, anxiety, lack of stimulation and bad diet can lead to poor early brain development and lead to problems later in life.  By the age 11 children have about half as many connections due to synaptic “pruning”, gradually organizing thick tangles of “wiring” into more efficient and powerful connection. The synapses that they use stay and the ones that they don’t are eliminated, based on “use it or lose it” principle. On average a 50 year old has than 100 billion neurons and nearly 10 times fewer connections, but we don’t typically think of a 50 year old and less developed than the toddler.. well, I guess I can think of a person or two that can be exception to this rule, but I digress. Why is that the adult have fewer neuronal connections that a child? The answer is because of “pruning” and “plasticity”. One way to think of pruning is that we develop as many connections as possible but then trim them to keep the ones we use. If we kept all of them, the brain would not function efficiently and may overheat, I exaggerate, but my point is that it needs to be streamlined. More active brain doesn’t one is smarter, less active brain can mean that the person is not very smart or that the brain is well pruned and well organized. Now, this relates to plasticity. Neuronal plasticity is an ability of the brain to change in response to environment to develop complex neural pathways, organize itself into groups for different kind of information processing. The information activates some groups of neurons more than others, and this level of activity causes the connections among the group to be reinforced. As more and more similar patterns come through the network, the connections among the activated group of neurons becomes stronger, and eventually the group becomes specialized for processing that one specific function, like hitting the top spin on your backhand or closing a business deal.

Each day we lose thousands of neurons, and millions of neuro-connections, but in a healthy brain, we are also making millions of new neuro-connections that are more pertinent to us and serve our needs. Not so much in the brain that degenerates.

Neuronal loss is irreversible. Nerve cells don’t regenerate themselves as almost all other cells in the body. The bad news, once lost they are lost and the brain shrinks, this process is permanent and cannot be reversed, the good news is that the brain loss can be slowed or stopped all together and hopefully, new neuronal connections can made to compensate for the ones that were lost!

Several separate factors are responsible for the brain degeneration. These are the blood flow problems, issues with cell membrane structure, neurotransmitter health, mitochondrial oxidative damage and neuronal inflammation. Each of these factors can single handedly cause neurodegeneration but as a part of the vicious cycle they tend to happen all at once. Unfortunately, the current medical model does not provide an early diagnosis and preventative intervention. Current pharmaceutical approach is also at this time missing the underlying reasons for neurodegeneration. In the present model the intervention is only warranted until after the neurodegenerative disease have taken place at which point it is almost always too late.

Functional medicine provides a unique and effective way to treat brain aging. Start by identifying it early.

Contact us for a complimentary consultation.

Arthur Gazaryants, D.O.M.

Back Pain

Back pain is a common condition in Western culture that often results from sedentary lifestyles; poor ergonomic conditions in the workplace, chronic inflammation and stress. Back pain is the largest cause of work-related absence in the United States, with a tremendous impact on business — an estimated cost nearing $100 billion a year in lost productivity. Studies show that most of the pain-related lost time occurs while employees are at work in the form of reduced performance, not absence from work. It is estimated that chronic back pain costs sufferers above $10,000 annually.

ACUPUNCTURE / CHINESE HERBS

After taking a medical history and performing a detailed physical examination, we will plan a course of treatment. Depending on a patient’s condition, a combination of acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and an anti-inflammatory diet may be prescribed. Each session, which usually lasts about 45 minutes, may involve electro-acupuncture to regulate the energy balance and get through any blockage in the body’s meridians, particularly those of the bladder and kidney. Other modalities such as soft-tissue mobilization, gentle repetitive movement of joints, and rapid guiding of the joints through their normal range of movements may all be considered, depending on each individual. Most patients will experience some improvement and some will achieve a complete cure after a course of this treatment. There may also be advice on posture, exercise, diet and stress management techniques. Acupuncture is also successful in the treatment of other painful conditions, such as migraine, shoulder, neck pain and sciatica.

ERGONOMIC ASSESSMENT

Poor ergonomics contribute to millions of injuries annually. For example, over 5,000,000 workers sustain over-extension injuries every year. Through ergonomics, workplaces can be designed so that workers do not have to over-extend themselves and the manufacturing industry could save billions in workers’ compensation. Ergonomics can help reduce costs by improving employee safety, both long- and short-term. This would decrease the money paid out in workers’ compensation. We provide an “Optimum Ergonomics” program and education on proper ergonomics at the workplace. If you associate your work with musculo-skeletal pain or stress, consider asking your employer to contact us for more information.

TUINA

Tuina is a hands-on body treatment that uses Chinese Taoist and martial art principles to bring the body into balance. Range of motion, traction, muscle activation, stretching and stimulation of acupoints can be used in the treatment of chronic and acute back pain, and sports injuries.

HOMEOPATHY

There are a number of homeopathic remedies commonly associated with the treatment of back pain. Rhus tox is a common remedy when there is stiffness in the back, particularly if there is a stiffness after the first movement of the day which then disappears. Arnica is also useful, especially when there is a sensation of bruising in the back, and after mental or physical trauma. Sometimes the problem is weakness in the back rather than pain, then phosphoric acid is used. Ruta grav and Hypericum are often indicated when nerve damage is involved.

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Lower Back Pain: What’s Going On

Too often I see people suffer from years, sometimes decades, of lower back pain. I have many questions when I see these patients. What treatment, if any, have they been getting and was it helpful? What kinds of things and activities help or aggravate their condition? Do they exercise? If yes, then what kind of exercise? And what are their eating habits? I also prefer seeing their X-rays, MRIs and other doctors’ reports, to get a full picture of what is the most likely cause of their pain.

Some questions they ask frequently are: How come, after all these years, I still have pain that will not go away? Will I ever get better? Must I have surgery to get better?

They also tell me they have had physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, even surgery, and if anything, their pain is worse.

Pain is a fascinating but peculiar thing. Many people with chronic back pain have no tissue damage, yet others may have various bulges, even herniations of their discs, but have little or no discomfort. In general, pain can come from bones, joints, discs, ligaments, nerves, tendons and muscles. The most common reason I see for chronic spinal pain is degenerative disc disease.

Degenerative disc disease is a misnomer. It is neither degenerative nor a disease. The term “degenerative” is confusing, because it refers to the disc and not the symptoms. It was not meant to imply that the condition will get worse — though it often does. It is a condition produced by a damaged disc that may (but likely does not) produce pain.

The great majority of people in their 60s have degenerative disc disease, but very few experience pain from it. Not everyone with degenerative disc disease will feel pain and not all pain can be explained by degeneration. In fact, degenerative disc disease pain is most likely felt by people in their 30s and 40s.

Here’s what’s going on.

When we are born, water makes up 80 percent of disc matter, making it pliable and soft, acting like a shock absorber. Changes in the integrity of the outer disc layer — called annulus fibrosus — contribute to a breakdown of the disc’s structure. Over time, our discs become less spongy. They lose hydration and become more vulnerable to damage as the annulus fibrosus weakens.

However, to blame the problem simply on age wouldn’t be fair. There are plenty of older people who experience no degeneration, while 30 percent of healthy adults show degenerative disc disease on their MRIs, yet have no pain.

The discs themselves have no blood vessels to supply them with oxygen and nutrients to assist repair. The main source of circulation comes from the pumping action created by the contraction and expansion of cartilaginous tissue. This type of circulation depends entirely on forces associated with physical activity — in particular, weight-bearing activity. In an inactive person, the discs and cartilage surrounding the bones of the spine are as likely to degenerate as in an active person, despite all the wear and tear an active person exerts on their joints.

Since there are plenty of people who feel no pain but have degenerative disc disease, other factors must be at play. I believe underlying levels of inflammation play a big role here. In my practice, I see a strong correlation between inflammatory agents such as homocysteine, C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, and the frequency, severity and duration of pain. Patients with low inflammatory markers also respond better to treatment. The body’s pH level, which is higher in those suffering from inflammation, also makes a huge difference. More acidic, more pain. More alkaline, less pain. This is a major reason why nutrition can affect pain and recovery.

Another factor that often goes unnoticed is in the muscles that surround the spine. These muscles help us to bend, turn, extend and to stand erect, etc. Stronger and more resilient muscles absorb and deflect the forces of impact to the discs and cartilage,  thereby reducing the chance of injuring the disc, bone and cartilage in our spines.

A car analogy may help here. A car’s suspension system consists of tires, springs and shock absorbers that act together to cushion the ride for its occupants. In this analogy, tires are discs, springs are joints and shock absorbers are muscles. The job of a shock absorber is to provide strength and functionality, controlling body movement and ride. It exerts a stabilizing force on the tires, preventing them from hopping or bouncing over uneven terrain and helping them to be planted more firmly on the road surface. They absorb and deflect the majority of initial road impacts and body movement. Any remaining forces of impact are then passed on to the rest of the suspension.

Understandably, it is common for a person with spine pain to stop exercising for the duration of their pain, and even after that pain is gone. They are often told to lay off exercise, or have a perfectly rational fear that exercising would make it worse, that lifting wrong or twisting caused the initial injury. So they become inhibited and apprehensive about doing it.

Not only do they decrease the circulation to their joints and weaken their muscles, but often their morale is affected, causing negative changes in their diets. People quit their gyms and their healthy eating habits also fall by the wayside. An unintentional cascade of inflammation, pain and further degeneration sets in, rendering a person helpless in their pursuit of a pain-free life.

In my opinion, it is important to continue with weight-bearing exercise and activities that strengthen spine musculature, unless a person has acute pain. In that case, the acute pain should be treated first before any exercise program can begin. In my experience, and from medical literature, the most effective method for relief from acute back pain is acupuncture combined with an anti-inflammatory diet.

Personally, I am not a big fan of anti-inflammatory medications because of their side effects, but generally a short course shouldn’t affect one too negatively. I much prefer making changes in pain/inflammatory cascades and going to the root of the problem. Reversing the body’s production of pain and inflammation-causing factors is possible and easily achievable through nutrition and supplements. Here are some tips:

Avoid foods with a high glycemic index, including:

Sugar, refined carbohydrates, beef, pork and shellfish. Saturated, hydrogenated, trans fats and oils. Food additives, such as flavor enhancer, colorings, flavors, artificial sweeteners. Coffee, strong black tea, chocolate, sodas, fruit juices, fast food, junk food, all dairy (other than whey), alcohol and tap water.

Eat more green leafy vegetables, legumes such as chard, collard greens, kale, spinach, beet tops and parsley. Include high-quality protein, such as whey, hemp, soy, rice, or protein from wild fish (anchovies, bluefish, halibut, herring, lake trout, mackerel, salmon, sardines, shark, sturgeon, albacore and blue fin tuna), organic white chicken and turkey; olive, flaxseed, and blackcurrant oils.

Other general recommendations:

Increase your water intake, decrease the size of your meals and be more regular with eating. Don’t skip breakfast, eat a high-protein breakfast, don’t wait until you’re starving, don’t eat a big meal late, increase the protein-to-carbohydrate ratio of your meals (at least one gram of protein for gram and a half of carbohydrate), try and reduce the stress levels in your life.

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Advanced Optimization Method

Advanced Optimization Method™

The main principles ofDr. Gazaryants’ Advanced Optimization Method (AOM) for achieving the highest level of wellness have their foundation in Acupuncture, Oriental and Functional Medicine, Functional Lab Testing and Physical Exam.

This revolutionary method focuses on exercise, nutrition and lifestyle modification, while taking into account each patient’s unique genetic, microbiome, psychological, emotional, physical characteristics, and even environmental factors.

Exercise:

The exercise component is determined by the individual’s metabolic needs and goals. It consists of simple activities like daily walks to higher-intensity weight and aerobic training. For additional support, Dr. Gazaryants works with a number of gyms and wellness centers with the experienced personal trainers who are familiar with our approach, and are willing to work with each and every patient to keep them focused on their target.

Nutrition:

The nutritional foundation is the glue of AOM and is based on gut health, detoxification, meal and supplement planning and education. His unique functional approach to nutrition and healing overall is personalized and deals with primary prevention of chronic illness through the use of foods and nutritional supplements instead of medications. Dr. Gazaryants provides his patients with specific nutritional precision meal planning and targeted supplement program to help his patients achieve the results they’re looking for fast.

Lifestyle modification:

Lifestyle modification is a crucial component of AOM. Dr. Gazaryants provides guidance to build and strengthen self-confidence and a positive self-image. This is achieved through empathetic and non-forceful encouragement, resulting in strong motivation and a healthy mindset to counteract psychological and emotional stresses.

Dr. Gazaryants measures physiological and environmental aspects such as genetics, detoxification profiles, complete blood chemistry, GI-MAP™ (comprehensive gut microbiome health test), hormonal, immunological, organic acid levels, food sensitivities and more to give his patients the most complete picture yet as to what’s their body’s internal environment and map out a detailed plan to the optimum vitality and health.

The principles of AOM draw the best from both Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, tying them together holistically and thoughtfully to provide a level of care for the patients that is decades beyond the current overburdened and outdated healthcare system that is primarily dictated by the health insurance and pharmaceutical and other medical companies and organizations.

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