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HOW HEAD TRAUMA AFFECTS MEMORY AND MORE

• Prefrontal cortex (judgment, planning, forethought, and impulse control)
• Temporal lobes (learning, memory, and mood stability)
• Cerebellum (mental agility and processing speed)

CAN FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYERS IMPROVE BRAIN HEALTH?

5 WAYS TO REHAB THE BRAIN AFTER HEAD INJURY

1. Take brain-smart supplements.

• A multivitamin Our food supply has been processed to the point where we have removed many of the nutrients. Plus, 91% of Americans do not eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day—the minimum required to get the nutrition that you need. Everyone should take a multivitamin.
• Omega-3 fatty acids Omega-3 fatty acids are critical to building healthy cell membranes, which are crucial for all our cells to work and essential for our brain cells to make the trillions of connections that enable peak cognitive, mood, and behavioral performance. Low omega-3 fatty acids are associated with heart disease, cancer, skin problems, diabetes, obesity, depression, and dementia.
• Vitamin D Vitamin D used to be considered just a bone vitamin, but intensive research established that the body converts it into a hormone that also helps regulate brain, cardiovascular, immune, muscle, lung, joint, and kidney functions. Vitamin D is important for the brain’s early development and ongoing renewal, and in clinical trials, it promotes healthy mood management and cognitive functions.
• A combination of brain-directed supplements Ginkgo biloba (supports healthy blood flow), acetyl-l-carnitine (supports mitochondrial energy), huperzine A (supports acetylcholine), N-acetyl-cysteine and alpha-lipoic acid (antioxidant support), and phosphatidylserine (for nerve cell membrane support) are all critical for optimal brain function.

2. Check your HbA1C and fasting blood sugar levels.

3. Check your thyroid, DHEA, and testosterone levels.

4. Try hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

5. Protect your head.

INSIDE THE CTE BRAIN

WHY HEAD TRAUMA ISN’T HOPELESS

• Prefrontal cortex—involved with judgment, planning, forethought, and impulse control
• Temporal lobes—involved with learning, memory, and mood stability
• Cerebellum—involved with mental agility and processing speed

AD’s Brain Before and After 10 Years

HOPE FOR A BETTER BRAIN AND A BETTER LIFE AFTER HEAD TRAUMA

PERSONAL INSIGHTS FROM BRAIN IMAGING

How Seeing the Brain Changes Your Mindset

Studying the Brains of NFL Players

• Prefrontal cortex (judgment, planning, forethought, and impulse control)
• Temporal lobes (learning, memory, and mood stability)
• Cerebellum (mental agility and processing speed)

Head Trauma, Mental Well-Being, and Cognitive Health

• ADD/ADHD
• Aggression
• Anxiety
• Panic disorders
• Borderline and antisocial personality disorders
• Dementia
• Depression
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Psychosis
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Suicide
• Learning problems

Help for Healing from Head Injuries

Protect your head from future injuries:

Check your hormone levels:

Neurofeedback:

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT):

Aaron Hernandez was supposed to be the epitome of the American Dream—overcoming childhood setbacks to earn a spot in the NFL on the New England Patriots. Millions of kids across America wish they could be so lucky. But the 2020 documentary on Netflix, “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez,” takes a deep dive into his life to investigate how his dream unraveled into a nightmare. Convicted of murdering his friend Odin Lloyd and accused of killing two other men (but found not guilty), Hernandez took his own life in a prison suicide in 2017. He was only 27.

The compelling docuseries explores many of the factors that could have contributed to the tragic end of such a promising life—childhood abuse, unstable parenting, hidden bisexuality. And then there was his brain. The docuseries delivers a fascinating look at his troubled brain, but it misses one key factor that may have contributed to Hernandez’ brain dysfunction.

The Brain of Aaron Hernandez

After Hernandez’s death, his brain was delivered to Boston University, where researchers made razor-thin slices for examination. Their findings? His brain was “riddled” with Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This neurodegenerative disease, which has 4 stages, has been found in athletes like football players, boxers, and soccer players who endure repeated concussions and other blows to the head. It has been associated with memory loss, cognitive dysfunction, and suicidal thoughts and behavior.

A Boston University publication reported that Ann McKee, director of BU’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, said that his brain was the worst case of CTE ever seen in someone so young. “Especially in the frontal lobes, which are very important for decision-making, judgment, and cognition, we could see damage to the inner chambers of the brain,” she said. The frontal lobes are also involved in impulse control, empathy, and learning from past experiences.

The documentary focuses heavily on CTE and the significant role it likely played in Hernandez’ downfall, and for good reason. The filmmakers also hone in on another aspect of his life that may have contributed to his troubles—cannabis use. It is reported that the football player began smoking marijuana regularly in high school and continued to smoke throughout his pro career. The docuseries calls him a “chainsmoker” with a serious habit, but it neglects to connect the dots between marijuana use and brain dysfunction.

Marijuana and the Brain

A growing body of evidence shows that marijuana use impairs brain activity. In the largest known brain imaging study, which appeared in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, scientists from Amen Clinics, Google, Johns Hopkins University, UCLA, and the UC San Francisco evaluated 62,454 brain SPECT scans of more than 30,000 individuals (ages 9 months to 105 years) to investigate factors that accelerate brain aging. SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) is a brain imaging technology that measures brain activity and blood flow. The study found that a number of brain disorders and behaviors predicted accelerated aging. Of all the disorders and behaviors analyzed, cannabis abuse ranked as the second-highest brain ager, topped only by schizophrenia.

The study, which included brain scans from 1,000 cannabis users, 25,168 non-cannabis users, and 100 healthy controls, showed reduced cerebral blood flow among the cannabis users compared to non-users and healthy controls. A significant decrease in blood flow was noted specifically in the right hippocampus, an area of the brain that helps with memory formation. This part of the brain is severely affected in those that suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

Other research has concluded that marijuana harms the teenage brain in numerous ways. For example, a 2019 review found that it increases the risk of depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. And marijuana use at a young age has also been associated with increased impulsivity.

Although pot promoters would argue that most people who smoke marijuana don’t become murderers and don’t die by suicide, it’s important to understand that in vulnerable people it may have negative impacts on brain function that contribute to unhealthy behaviors. Sadly, considering that Hernandez’s brain was so damaged by CTE, marijuana use was likely only making bad brain function worse.

You Can Change Your Brain

Unfortunately, this information is too late to help Hernandez, but it isn’t too late for other football players who have endured years of helmet-to-helmet tackles. A study at Amen Clinics on 30 retired professional football players who had suffered head trauma showed that after following a brain healthy program for 6 months, 80% showed significant improvement in blood flow to the frontal lobes, as well as improvements in overall cognitive functioning, processing speed, attention, reasoning, and memory. Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw spoke openly about his own brain rehabilitation after suffering multiple concussions.

Likewise, it isn’t too late for people who grew up in traumatic households. See how a man named Kevin overcame his traumatic upbringing to enhance his brain health using a variety of innovative therapies. And it isn’t too late for people who have been bad to their brain with drug use. Find out how Arnie broke free from the chains of addiction. It’s never too late to start enhancing brain function.

The world’s largest database of brain scans related to behavior—over 160,000 and growing—shows that when you adopt a brain health program, you can change your brain and change your life for the better.

At Amen Clinics, we take a unique brain-body approach that gets to the root cause of your symptoms. Our comprehensive evaluations include brain SPECT imaging, as well as laboratory testing and assessing other important factors that could be contributing to symptoms. By getting to the root cause of your symptoms, we can create a more effective, personalized treatment plan for you.

If you want to join the tens of thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health, overcome their symptoms, and improved their quality of life at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.

Every year on Super Bowl Sunday, people gather around the TV to root for their home team and to place all sorts of bets—who will win, if they’ll beat the point spread, the total number of passing yards, and so on—all based on the predictions of sports bookies. But there’s one prediction that our brain imaging work says is a sure thing—you can bet that nearly every player on the field will have experienced some form of damage to the brain from playing football.

All those crushing helmet-to-helmet hits over a player’s career can cause mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that often go undetected. As the number of hits to the head add up, it is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, anger, attention problems, weight gain, brain fog, substance abuse, memory loss, and suicide. Football players literally have their brains, their mental health, and their lives on the line every time they take the field.

Football and the Brain

At Amen Clinics, we’ve been studying the brains of football players for decades. Our brain imaging work reveals that Pop Warner and high school players, aged 8 to 18, already show clear evidence of TBIs. The brain scans of college players show even greater damage. And the scans of NFL players are even worse. In the past few decades, Amen Clinics has performed several studies on active and retired professional football players, and the results are startling.

For a 2011 study on 100 active and former NFL players from 27 different teams, we took detailed histories, had the players perform cognitive tests and did both brain SPECT scans and QEEG studies on each of them. The results were very clear—playing football damaged multiple areas of the brain in greater than 90% of the players. There was persistent damage to the following areas of the brain:

• Prefrontal cortex (judgment, planning, forethought, and impulse control)

• Temporal lobes (learning, memory, and mood stability)

• Cerebellum (mental agility and processing speed)

To date, we have conducted 4 studies on gridiron greats. Our 2012 study in Translational Psychiatry found that as retired NFL players’ weight goes up—which it often does after they stop playing—the size and function of their brain goes down. Even a study sponsored by the National Football League itself found that retired players ages 30-49 were given a dementia-related diagnosis at 20 times the rate of age-matched populations, while players over the age of 50 received a dementia-related diagnosis 5 times the national average.

At this point, there is little doubt that playing football at any level can cause long-term cognitive and emotional trouble.

It’s Never Too Early to Start a Brain “Pre-hab” Program

That’s why every single person who plays tackle football—and anyone who is at risk from brain trauma, including firefighters, police officers, and military personnel—needs to be involved in a brain “pre-hab” program on a daily basis. You can’t wait to have a concussion or major head injury to start thinking about the health of your brain. You need to be pro-active about it.

What’s exciting is that our brain imaging work with football players shows that damaged brains can be healed. In a 2011 study we put 30 retired NFL players with damaged brains and cognitive impairment on a brain healthy program for an average of 6 months. At the end of the trial 80% showed significant improvement in blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, as well as the parietal lobes, occipital lobes, anterior cingulate gyrus, and cerebellum. And cognitive testing showed statistically significant increases in scores of attention, memory, reasoning, information processing speed, and accuracy.

10 Brain Pre-Hab Strategies You Can Bet On

On Super Bowl Sunday, think about your own brain health too. By putting your brain in a healing environment, you can boost your brain reserve, which is the extra cushion of brain function you have to help you deal with whatever stresses or injuries come your way.

Here are 10 simple pre-hab strategies you can bet on to protect your brain from injury.

1. Always wear your seatbelt when you drive or ride in a vehicle.
2. To prevent falls or other injuries, do not carry too many packages or boxes at one time.
3. Wear a helmet when skiing, biking, etc.
4. Avoid going up on the roof or climbing ladders.
5. Slow down.
6. Do not text and walk or drive.
7. Be careful when going up and down stairs; hold the handrail.
8. If you have had a head trauma, have your hormone levels checked and optimize any that are low.
9. Take the herb peppermint to help with healing.
10. Eat eggs to boost acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that helps with learning and memory

At Amen Clinics, we have helped thousands of children and adults with concussions or TBIs to heal their brain and minimize their symptoms. We use a combination of the least toxic, most effective therapies, which may include neurofeedback, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), nutraceuticals, and medications, as well as simple lifestyle changes that can make a big difference.

If you are in a profession that’s at high risk for trauma—such as football players, firefighters, police officers, and others—speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.

As an NFL Hall-of-Fame quarterback and Super Bowl MVP, Joe Namath had it all. His exceptional performance on the field and natural charisma turned him into a pop culture icon known as “Broadway Joe.”

But Joe didn’t emerge from his football career unscathed. He suffered at least five concussions—the “lights out, smelling salts” kind, Joe said on the June 24, 2019, Howard Stern radio show.

He didn’t really think much about it until the 2000s at his football camp when he saw how gridiron head injuries were affecting one of his former teammates. “I saw a teammate of mine deteriorating over a period of four years,” Joe says. “His mind, he was losing it, he’d forget things. It scared him.”

At the football camp the following year, the teammate was even worse. It was a wake-up call for Joe. “It dawned on me, I said I need to find out about myself. It behooves me, Joe, to find out about myself. And it behooves me to do it for my children.”

What a Brain Scan Revealed About Joe Namath’s Brain

Joe reached out to a hospital in Florida where he lives and underwent a brain imaging test called SPECT, which measures blood flow and brain activity. SPECT shows three things—areas of the brain with healthy activity, too much activity, or not enough activity. SPECT differs from MRI or CT scans, which show structural damage to the brain but do not reveal how the brain is functioning. In fact, in many people who have suffered a head injury, MRI and CT scans will appear normal even when there is functional damage to the brain. Because SPECT looks at brain function, it is the best tool to detect functional damage.

Joe’s SPECT scan revealed that all those concussions on the field had taken a toll on his brain. The brain scan showed evidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), with low activity in some areas. “With that SPECT scan, they could see the cells on the left side of my head from the forehead back were not getting blood. They were darker than the rest of the other cells,” Joe says.

How Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helped Joe Namath’s Brain

As part of a treatment plan to rehabilitate his brain, Joe began doing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). HBOT is a noninvasive treatment that involves breathing 100% pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. With HBOT, your lungs can take in up to 3 times more oxygen than they do when breathing at normal air pressure. The increased oxygen is picked up via the bloodstream and transported to damaged tissues to facilitate the healing process. HBOT has been used to improve many issues, including TBI, PTSD, memory loss, anxiety and depression, attention problems, and other mental health issues.

After 40 sessions, Joe went back for a follow-up SPECT scan, which showed the dark areas of his brain with low blood flow had started to lighten up, a sign of improved blood flow. He continued with 40 more sessions and then a final 40 sessions. His follow-up brain scan after all 120 HBOT sessions stunned him. His brain “looked normal all over,” he says.

Since then, Joe has made it his mission to spread the word about the benefits of SPECT brain imaging and hyperbaric oxygen therapy through the Joe Namath Neurological Research Center at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida. “This could help millions,” he says, such as “the veterans alone that get concussions, the children that fall off bicycles and hit their head.”

Although Joe Namath was not treated at Amen Clinics, we have used brain SPECT imaging and hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help treat numerous former NFL players and thousands of other people with TBI. In fact, 40 percent of our patients have had TBIs, including mild ones where you don’t pass out. Many of our patients who have undergone HBOT have experienced a dramatic improvement in cerebral blood flow. Benefits they have reported include improved memory, moods, cognition, and sleep, as well as reduced depression, irritability, and headaches.

If you would like more information on brain SPECT scans or HBOT, call 888-288-9834 or make an appointment online.

Undiagnosed Concussions are a Serious Problem

Know the Symptoms

• Confusion
• Difficulty with concentration and paying attention
• Memory problems
• Difficulty with word finding
• Mental and/or physical fatigue
• Sleep problems
• Sensitivity to noise and/or light
• Moodiness
• Anger outbursts
• Increased anxiety
• Social isolation
• Vision problems
• Balance problems
• Nausea

Ask the Right Questions

Seek Recovery

Practice Brain Safety

• Don’t do “headers” in soccer
• Avoid high-risk sports and activities where you can hit your head
• Always wear your seatbelt when in a vehicle
• Always wear a helmet when on a motorcycle, bicycle, skateboard, snowboard, skis, or rollerblades.

Take a Look

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

The Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Sports Injuries
• Autism
• Cerebral Palsy
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Stroke
• Lyme Disease
• Migraine
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Vascular Dementia

So how can you find out?

1) You don’t have to wait until you’re dead to be diagnosed with a brain injury. With SPECT, we were able to see traumatic brain injuries in virtually all of the football players we studied, and some are recently retired.

2) We determined that you’re not stuck with the damage you have, you can get treated.