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By Kabran Chapek, ND

When someone suffers a concussion or head injury and they go to the emergency room, they usually go through a battery of tests, including brain imaging with a CT scan or MRI scan. If nothing serious is noted—no bleeding, no swelling—they’re typically sent home and told to “watch and wait and take Tylenol for a headache.” That’s standard protocol in the traditional medicine world.

Many people, if not most, do recover from a concussion, but what about those who don’t? Postconcussion syndrome may affect 40-80% of people after they have a concussion. In these cases, “watch and wait” isn’t helpful advice. In fact, some of the recommendations people get after a head injury may inadvertently be slowing or even preventing the healing process.

Why Didn’t Kevin Get Better

That’s exactly what happened to Kevin. During a high school soccer match, Kevin leaped high to make a header, but instead of hitting the ball, his head collided with another player’s skull. There was a sickening thud and the youngster tumbled to the ground, where he cried out in pain.

Fortunately, Kevin didn’t lose consciousness, but his parents insisted on taking him to the ER anyway. Following a long wait, a short examination, and a quick visit to the CT scanner, the ER doc informed Kevin and his parents that based on the results of the CT scan, he had suffered a concussion but would be “just fine.”

But Kevin wasn’t fine. Instead of recovering quickly, as most teen boys do, he experienced splitting headaches, had trouble with his memory, and sank into depression.

That’s when Kevin came to see me. As a doctor of naturopathic medicine, my goal is to treat the root cause of symptoms and heal the underlying brain injury rather than simply recommend over-the-counter pain relievers and rest.

Kevin isn’t alone. I’ve had many patients who have suffered a TBI who are able to function and get through everyday life, but who remain plagued by lingering symptoms, such as anger, focus issues, balance problems, dizziness, tinnitus, depression, anxiety, fatigue, or insomnia. They typically come to me as a last resort when their traditional doctors didn’t have the answers they wanted or the solutions they needed.

The Falsehoods That Prevent Healing

When mild brain injury symptoms persist the way they did in Kevin’s case, traditional doctors typically tell people three things, all of which are false. In my book Concussion Rescue, I write about how these three falsehoods can prevent you from getting better, as well as the three truths that will put you on the path to faster healing.

Lie #1: There is nothing more that can be done.

Truth: There are many things a person can do to heal from a concussion. Telling someone there’s nothing that can be done is like an invitation to wallow in misery. Even worse, it can lead the way to bad lifestyle habits that actually intensify feelings of anxiety, depression, and anger; make it harder to focus, and increase sleep disturbances.

Lie #2: Healing happens over time.

Truth: Time does not necessarily heal all wounds. Although rest and high-quality sleep are important, rest alone is not always enough to heal. This advice causes people to simply sit back and wait for the healing process to occur rather than taking a pro-active approach. This means you spend more time feeling bad rather than getting on the road to feeling better.

Lie #3: If healing doesn’t occur over time, you can take stimulants to help with brain function, antidepressants for mood swings, and muscle relaxers for sore muscles.

Truth: Stimulant medications, antidepressants, and muscle relaxers are not necessarily the best solutions, and in some cases, they can exacerbate symptoms. Healing from a concussion is possible, but because brain injuries are complex, the solution must encompass more than just popping pills. By following a TBI rescue program that takes a comprehensive brain-body approach, you can accelerate the healing process, even if an injury occurred years earlier. It’s never too late to start healing from a TBI.

For Kevin, after just two weeks on an appropriate treatment program, his headaches diminished, he began to regain his memory, and he was feeling much better about his life. He was thrilled with his progress but wished he had known earlier about all the simple things he could do to promote healing.

In Concussion Rescue, author Dr. Kabran Chapek shares the specific programs and protocols he uses at Amen Clinics to put patients on the pathway to healing from TBIs. Order your copy here.

If you or a loved one is struggling with symptoms that may be related to a TBI, understand that treating the underlying damage to the brain is the key to feeling better fast. At Amen Clinics, our Concussion Rescue Program has helped thousands of people heal from concussions and improve their quality of life. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

 

 

By Kabran Chapek, ND

Having trouble concentrating? Feeling depressed? Struggling with brain fog? You may have been told you have ADD/ADHD, depression, or mild cognitive impairment. But that may not be the whole story. These may actually be warning signs of a past concussion and unless that underlying brain trauma is addressed, no amount of traditional treatments will work for your symptoms.

Just look at Jane, who came to see me at age 35. She had gone back to school to become a nurse and was struggling to keep up with her classwork. She felt overwhelmed, unorganized, forgetful, and depressed. She also complained of frequent headaches. Her previous healthcare provider had diagnosed her with “adult onset ADHD” and prescribed stimulants. The medication helped a little, but not a lot, even at higher doses. Jane’s life eventually became so unmanageable that her aging parents had to step in to support her.

The Secret Jane’s Brain Revealed

I ordered a brain SPECT scan for Jane. This test measures blood flow and activity in the brain and reveals areas with healthy activity, too much activity, and too little activity. Jane’s scan showed something that neither she nor her parents ever expected.

When I met with Jane and her parents, I asked her, “When did you suffer the brain injury?”

“What brain injury?” her mother asked, completely shocked. “I don’t remember Jane suffering from a brain injury.”

As we discussed her scan results, Jane recalled a number of concussions she had sustained as an adult in motor vehicle accidents, the most recent being a rollover accident. In this latest crash, Jane was able to walk away from the accident, although the emergency medical personnel who arrived on the scene insisted that she go to the hospital for an evaluation. At the hospital, she was evaluated and released the same day. 

Jane never suffered any symptoms typically associated with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after the accident—she didn’t lose consciousness, feel dizzy, or even “see stars”—so there was no reason for anyone to suspect she had sustained a brain injury. That’s why when she began experiencing forgetfulness and had trouble concentrating, she didn’t think it had anything to do with the accident.

Why Concussions Are Often Overlooked

Most people don’t know that even mild brain injury can become chronic and cause long-term symptoms. The problem is this type of degenerative reaction is unpredictable. Jane was one of the 10 to 80% of people with a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion who develop chronic symptoms.

She and her family were surprised that her present problems were the result of a long-ago injury, but they were heartened when I told them that now that we knew the problem, we could take the appropriate steps to fix it.

If I had not evaluated her and recommended brain SPECT imaging, Jane probably would have continued down the path of one medication trial after another. Many times, doctors simply don’t ask about possible injury to the brain or actually look at the brain with imaging. Instead, the problems are frequently attributed to a psychiatric condition and the person is treated with medication like Jane was.

SPECT is one of the best tools available to identify areas of the brain hurt by a concussion or TBI. CT scans and MRI scans show damage to the structure of the brain, but they don’t show how the brain is functioning. In fact, it’s common for SPECT to detect functional problems even though a CT or MRI scan was normal.

Know the Warning Signs of TBI

I have treated many patients like Jane who were diagnosed with a psychiatric condition only to discover that a previously undiagnosed brain injury was contributing to the symptoms. Some of the signs and symptoms associated with a persistent brain injury that stubbornly does want to heal include:

If you or a loved one experiences any of these symptoms that may be related to head trauma, don’t be complacent. Seek help right away from a mindful physician who will take these symptoms seriously and who will look to see if there is underlying damage to the brain that needs to be healed.

In Concussion Rescue, author Dr. Kabran Chapek shares the specific programs and protocols he uses at Amen Clinics to put patients on the pathway to healing from symptoms related to concussions and TBIs. Order your copy here.

If you or a loved one is struggling with symptoms that may be related to a concussion or TBI, understand that treating the underlying damage to the brain is the key to feeling better fast. At Amen Clinics, our Concussion Rescue Program has helped thousands of people heal from concussions and improve their quality of life. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

 

When a loved one attempts suicide or dies by suicide, it may make you desperate to find the reason why. But suicide is incredibly complex, and there are no simple answers.

Consider Jesse, who was just 14 when she was admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt. On the surface, it seemed that she had tried to take her own life because she had a terrible fight with her mother that night. Jesse had been doing poorly in school and couldn’t keep up academically with her friends, and her mother had berated her for it. But the real story went much deeper.

Jesse had a family history of depression on her father’s side, and her mother had many ADD/ADHD symptoms (although she refused to be evaluated and treated for it). Jesse felt sad and had a tendency to look at the negative side of things. She was also disorganized, had lifelong trouble focusing on her schoolwork, and was impulsive. She was diagnosed with depression and ADD/ADHD.

A brain imaging study showed that Jesse had increased activity in the brain’s limbic system (an area involved in setting a person’s emotional tone) as well as decreased activity in her prefrontal cortex (an area involved in impulse control and judgment). This brain pattern made her more vulnerable to suicide.

Suicide in the Brain

Brain SPECT imaging studies reveal underlying brain abnormalities in people who have suicidal thoughts or attempts. Amen Clinics has performed brain scans on more than 300 people who have made a suicide attempt and on far more who have considered taking their own life. Most of these individuals possessed some combination of the following traits—impulsiveness, negative thinking patterns, flashes of irritability or anger, and a lack of good judgment. For Jesse, it was the swirling negative thoughts, impulsivity, and poor judgment combined with life stressors that put her at increased risk.

Imaging studies reveal that people with suicidal thoughts and behavior often have the following brain abnormalities:

Head Injuries

Concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)—even mild ones that don’t cause you to blackout—increase the risk of suicide. Falling off a bike, getting in a car accident, or falling off a ladder can cause dramatic changes in brain function that increase anxiety, depression, impulsivity, anger, poor decision-making, and substance abuse—all of which make a person more likely to contemplate suicide. At Amen Clinics, 40% of patients have experienced head trauma, but many of them don’t remember it.

Temporal Lobes

Brain SPECT imaging studies show that abnormalities in the temporal lobes—and especially in the left temporal lobe—are common in people with suicidal thoughts and behavior. In a study performed at Amen Clinics, left temporal lobe problems were present in 62% of people who seriously thought about taking their own life or who made a suicide attempt.

Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)

Low blood flow in the PFC, which is associated with impaired decision-making, impulse control, and judgment, is commonly seen in suicidal people. Anything that lowers PFC activity can increase the risk of suicide in those who are already vulnerable. For example, alcohol lowers activity in the PFC, and a study in BMJ found that22% of suicide victims were drunk at the time of their death.

Anterior Cingulate Gyrus (ACG)

The ACG is the brain’s gear shifter and helps you go from thought to thought. When there is too much activity in this area, however, people have a tendency to get stuck on negative thoughts, which is one of the traits seen in people with suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Healing the Brain, Saving Lives

To help prevent suicide, it’s critical to healing underlying brain dysfunction. For Jesse, that included medication for her impulsivity and poor judgment, and psychotherapy to help her learn to change her negative thinking patterns. Over several months, her condition improved significantly. Her mood was better. School was easier for her. She had better frustration tolerance and impulse control. Her initial weekly visits after she left the hospital turned into every 2 weeks and then monthly by the end of the first year, and she maintained good stability.

Healing her brain helped save her life. The best way to prevent suicide or help someone after a suicide attempt is to help them heal their brain.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

At Amen Clinics, we have treated hundreds of people who have attempted suicide, including Jesse. We use brain SPECT imaging to help identify underlying brain abnormalities that increase the risk of suicide and offer personalized treatment plans to optimize the brain and lead to a happier, healthier outlook on life.

If you or a loved one is experiencing suicidal tendencies and would like more information on how to heal your brain and save a life, call us at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

 

 

Did you know that a blow to the head or a whiplash-type injury can have lasting impacts long after any immediate symptoms—headaches, dizziness, blurred vision—have resolved? In fact, a concussion can have consequences that remain or emerge decades later.

What Is a Concussion?

A concussion is considered a mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which occurs in over 2 million people each year.

Why is it so easy to damage the human brain?

Your brain is very soft, and it resides within a really hard skull that has multiple sharp, bony ridges. Whiplash, jarring motions (think Shaken Baby Syndrome), blast injuries, and bumps to the head can cause your brain to slam into the hard, interior ridges of the skull. 

A concussion can cause the brain to lurch back and forth, stretching and twisting delicate tissues. This can hurt the brain in many ways, including:

5 Long-term Concussion Consequences

1. Memory loss

A study in PLOS Medical Journal found that people with a traumatic brain injury were 4 to 6 times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia within a year of the injury compared with people who had not suffered a TBI. This same 2018 study also reported that a concussion raises the risk of developing dementia over three decades later.

2. Abnormal tau proteins in the brain

Research shows that repeated concussions and TBIs, especially sports-related injuries in young athletes, can cause a proliferation of tau proteins within the brain. These substances are considered hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease and have been associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurodegenerative disease that has been documented in professional boxers and football players.

3. Loss of smell

Loss of smell is a common consequence of head trauma, and although it may sound inconsequential, it can be indicative of a serious problem. The area of the brain involved with smell (olfactory cortex) is near the memory centers, and they tend to deteriorate and die together. Having trouble smelling things like peanut butter, lemon, strawberries, or natural gas is associated with a higher incidence of significant memory problems, according to the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Scoring poorly on the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test strongly predicted those who would be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease later in life. 

4. Addiction

People who suffered a head injury prior to their 5th birthday or between the ages of 16 and 21 are at an increased risk of developing drug abuse, according to a 2014 study. Substances like drugs and alcohol are toxic to the brain and cause further damage that can negatively impact your life in many ways.

5. Mental health problems

Experiencing a head injury raises the risk of developing a mental illness, but surprisingly, few mental health providers are aware of this. Concussions and TBIs—even ones that occurred years earlier—have been linked to a rise in the following conditions:

Have You Had a Concussion?

You might assume that you would readily remember if you had suffered a concussion, but a surprising number of people don’t recall experiencing a head injury. Some develop a form of amnesia surrounding the event, others think the bang on the head they got as a kid wasn’t significant enough to cause problems. Take some time to remember (or ask your parents) if you have ever experienced any of the following common causes of concussion:

If you do recall a head injury, and you’re plagued with bothersome symptoms, it’s time to take action.

Consider Getting a Functional Imaging Study

A functional imaging study, such as SPECT or qEEG, may help pinpoint injured areas and is worth investigating if you are experiencing any issues with memory, substance use disorders, or mental health issues. Identifying past brain trauma can be a powerful first step to healing the brain and eliminating your symptoms.

At Amen Clinics about 40% of our patients have experienced a concussion or TBI, but many of them don’t remember it… until they see the damage in their brain scan or QEEG. Seeing the underlying biology of the brain allows us to create a personalized treatment plan to heal the brain and address the root cause of symptoms. For head injuries, 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’re tired of struggling with symptoms and think you may have suffered a concussion or head injury, find out how we can help. Talk to a specialist today by calling 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

 

When you were a kid, did you ever wipe out on your bike? Fall off the roof? Or get in a car accident? Every kid takes a few tumbles in life—it’s part of growing up. But could an injury as a child or teen come back to haunt your mental health later in life? The answer is a resounding yes.

Take a look at Sadie, for example, who had been kicked in the head by a horse and lost consciousness when she was 10 years old. Fast forward to age 42, and Sadie often felt depressed, had memory issues, and had failed her sixth alcohol treatment program.  She desperately wanted to stop drinking but couldn’t follow through with any of the program recommendations because she was so impulsive and her memory was poor. Whenever alcohol was around, she just couldn’t say no, and she couldn’t remember the sobriety strategies she was taught. 

Neither she nor her family ever considered that her problems with substance abuse stemmed from that kick in the head from the horse. It never occurred to her that her brain might still carry the lingering effects from that accident. But a brain scan using a technology called SPECT showed severe damage to her prefrontal cortex (focus, forethought, judgment and impulse control) and temporal lobes (learning and memory) caused by that head injury she had long forgotten.  

Sadie’s Surface SPECT Scan

When Sadie saw her brain scan, it jarred her memory about the head injury and its aftermath.  She remembered that her grades at school started to slip and that she became more rebellious at home. People treated her as though she was just a bad person, which made her feel sad and hopeless. She now realized how it all contributed to her problems as an adult.

This is critical to know considering approximately 812,000 young people under the age of 18 sought help in the emergency room for concussions or traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in 2014, according to the CDC. Children up to age 4 and teens 15-19 years old—along with seniors who are 65 and over—are the most likely to experience a TBI. Understanding the potential consequences of a TBI can help children and teens prevent the devastating fallout.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BRAIN IS INJURED?

Your brain is soft—about the consistency of soft butter, tofu, or custard—and housed in a very hard skull. With multiple sharp, bony ridges inside the brain can be easily damaged. Whiplash, blows to the head, blast injuries, and jarring motions (think shaken baby syndrome) can all cause the brain to slam into those sharp ridges. This can cause damage in a number of ways, including:

TBIs can also damage more than just the specific area of the brain where you smacked your head. In some cases, injuries can occur in both the front and back of the brain or on both sides. This is the result of a contrecoup injury, a common pattern in which the force of a blow causes the brain to move violently in the opposite direction, slamming into the opposite side of the skull and damaging that side of the brain as well.

In addition, because your pituitary gland (the body’s mast hormone regulator) lies in a vulnerable part of your skull, it is often damaged in head injuries. This can cause significant hormonal imbalances, which are linked to many symptoms of mental illness.

THE BRAIN INJURY-MENTAL ILLNESS CONNECTION

As Sadie’s story shows, TBIs can also lead to mental health problems. Few people know this, however, because most psychiatrists never look at the brain. TBI has been linked to:

Finding relief from your symptoms can be difficult due to several factors. Many people, for instance, have no recollection of experiencing a head injury as a child, whether it was falling out of a tree, slipping in the shower, going through the windshield of a car, or having concussions from playing sports. And they certainly don’t connect the dots to the symptoms of anxiety, depression, ADHD, or PTSD they may be experiencing as an adult.

In addition, the typical treatments for these conditions don’t heal the underlying brain damage. Because of this, therapies can be ineffective, causing you to go from one treatment to another or from doctor to doctor in search of a solution.

HOW BRAIN IMAGING REVEALS PAST TBIs

For Sadie, seeing her brain scan helped her realize that her substance abuse issues, memory problems, and depression weren’t her fault. They were related to the head injury she had suffered more than three decades earlier. It also helped her understand why all those alcohol treatment programs, which can be so helpful for some people, didn’t work for her. Once she rehabilitated her brain, she was better able to follow the treatment strategies that helped her stay sober, fight off depression, and rescue her memory.

At Amen Clinics about 40% of our patients have experienced head injuries, but many of them have no recollection of suffering a concussion until they see the damage in their brain scan. Seeing the underlying biology of the brain allows us to create a personalized treatment plan that helps heal the brain while addressing other symptoms.

If you think head trauma may be contributing to your symptoms or if traditional treatment isn’t working for you, don’t wait to seek professional help. Schedule a visit today or call 888-288-9834.

 

Tumbling off a bike, tripping while running in the house, or getting a kick in the head while playing soccer—getting hurt is part of growing up. However, suffering a concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI) from such head trauma is becoming more common. In fact, from 2010-2015, concussion diagnoses among tweens and teens ages 10-19 skyrocketed 71 percent. These seemingly mild head injuries can be devastating in ways you might not imagine, with consequences that can extend far beyond the initial blow to cause a lasting negative impact on a child’s life.

Take Joey, for example. He fell down a flight of stairs at age three. Even though he was unconscious for only a few minutes and was given a diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), there was nothing mild about the enduring effect the injury had on his life. By the time he was 15, he had been kicked out of his third residential treatment program for violence. Neither medication nor behavioral therapy was the answer—Joey needed a brain rehabilitation program.

If your child has suffered a head injury, here are 7 things you need to know:

Fact #1. TBI’s can impact cognitive function.

Head trauma can affect a child’s cognitive skills, causing problems with learning, attention and concentration, planning, problem-solving, memory, communication, and more. These are the fundamental building blocks of education and can set a child up for trouble in school.

Fact #2. Head injuries increase the risk of mental illness.

A concussion or TBI as a child increases the likelihood of developing mental health conditions, but few healthcare professionals know it. TBI is associated with a rise in:

Fact #3. Head trauma increases the risk of incarceration.

In a review of studies involving juvenile offenders, researchers found that about 30% of them had suffered a past TBI. Their findings suggest that juvenile offenders are significantly more likely to have a TBI compared to the general population.

Fact #4. Head injuries can disrupt healthy hormone production.

TBIs, especially those from whiplash injuries, can damage the pituitary gland, which plays a vital role in the regulation and production of the body’s hormones. This can lead to hormonal dysfunction, which can negatively impact neurotransmitter production and raises the risk of experiencing symptoms of mental illness.

Fact #5. TBI’s can happen at home or on the playing field.

You may think TBIs only happen in major car accidents, but new research shows that sports and recreational activities and everyday consumer products account for 72% of children’s emergency room visits for a TBI-related injury. According to the 2019 study in the journal Brain, sports and recreational activities (especially football, biking, and basketball) account for 28.8% of head injuries, home furnishings (primarily beds) and fixtures are linked to 17.2%, residential structures and construction materials are responsible for 17.1%, child nursery equipment is tied to 2.7%, and toys make up 2.4%.

Fact #6. Functional brain imaging tests can reveal damage from past head injuries.

Following a TBI, brain imaging tests that show the brain’s structure, such as MRI, may not indicate any damage to the anatomy of the brain. However, functional brain scans, such as brain SPECT imaging, can reveal areas of the brain with abnormal activity due to past trauma. When a person who is experiencing symptoms of a psychiatric disorder has a brain scan that reveals signs of a TBI, it helps them get a more accurate diagnosis. For people with a past head injury, treating only the psychiatric symptoms often doesn’t work. They also need treatment to help balance underlying brain activity.

For many people, seeing their brain scan serves as a reminder of past head trauma they had forgotten. That’s what happened to controversial YouTube star Logan Paul, who is well-known for taking wild risks and performing dangerous stunts. He wanted to get a brain scan to find out why he makes so many bad decisions, why he lacks empathy, and why he is incapable of maintaining a committed relationship. When he looked at his brain scan, it jogged his memory of playing tackle football in high school where he was “always getting hit in the head.” Those blows to the head likely played a part in the issues he was having.

Fact #7. Healing the brain can help soothe symptoms.

Therapies that help heal abnormal brain activity due to TBI include hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and neurofeedback. HBOT speeds healing and boosts cognitive and emotional functioning. Neurofeedback is a non-invasive strategy that has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, attention problems, and more. Eating a brain-healthy diet and taking targeted nutritional supplements can also contribute to more balanced brain activity.

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, HBOT, nutraceuticals, and medications, as well as simple lifestyle changes that can make a big difference.

If your child has suffered a concussion or head injury, find out how we can help. Talk to a specialist today by calling 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

 

 

In 2009, everything was going right for 20-year-old BMX bike rider Josh Perry. He had just won his first pro contest and was the first to complete a 360-barspin-barspin-tailwhip—a mind-blowing maneuver that earned him first place in the best trick contest.

The Accident that Changed Everything

Like all BMX riders, Josh was used to falling and getting back up. He’d had his share of concussions, but after a particularly bad crash in 2010 when he smacked his head hard, he got hit with something completely unexpected. The hospital doctor performed a brain scan then gave him the good news first—there was no swelling or bleeding from the accident. Then came the bad news. Josh had a brain tumor that was taking up nearly the entire left side of his brain, and it might be cancer. His doctor told him he needed to have surgery immediately and warned him, “You may not wake up, and you’ll probably never ride your bike again.”

Josh could barely make sense of the words—cancer, never ride again, not wake up. He was only 21, a professional athlete, and living out his dream. This couldn’t be happening to him. Fear, anxiety, stress, and worry set in. Then he got caught up in a victim mentality, wondering, “Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?”

Making a Comeback

Things were looking grim for Josh, but he managed to make it through the surgery (the tumor was benign). Remarkably, just 5 weeks later, he was back on his bike. And two months after that, he was competing again. He had figured a way out of that victim mentality to get back to what he loved.

Today, after being diagnosed with 2 more brain tumors, he’s hit the brakes on his BMX career to become a brain and health advocate. And he’s loving every minute of it.

Sharing His Journey

Josh recently joined Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen for a 4-part series of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast to talk about his inspiring journey. You don’t have to have a brain tumor to benefit from the insights he’s learned along the way. They can help anyone who’s dealing with any kind of challenge—including the physical or mental consequences of a traumatic brain injury (TBI)—to rise above those difficulties and start living and loving your life again.

https://youtu.be/dUPpIc4s0lI

In this inspiring series, you’ll discover:

Listen to the 4-part series about brain trauma and recovery with Josh Perry, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Tana Amen on the Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast.

At Amen Clinics, we have helped thousands of adults and children with concussions or traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) to heal their brain. 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.

To find out how we can help you overcome the challenges you’re facing, talk to a specialist today by calling 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

 

By Kabran Chapek, ND

The number one thing that I’ve learned while working at Amen clinics for the past 7 years is that brain injuries are a major cause of mental illness. What’s more, is that it’s not being recognized. Concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries are a silent epidemic because it’s not being recognized as a cause of mental illness. By evaluating the CAUSE of a mental health problem, at Amen Clinics we often find that it is a BRAIN HEALTH problem such as a brain injury, toxin, deficiency in nutrients or hormones, or an infection like Lyme disease. Let’s take the case of Brandon a 17-year-old young man from Kansas who came to see me earlier this year.

It was a warm summer night, and Brandon felt like he was on top of the world racing his four-wheeler back towards his parent’s farmhouse. The earthy smell of the Kansas Prairie filled his nostrils as he accelerated up the hill and headed around the corner, but he was going too fast and when his front right wheel hit a rut, the 400lb vehicle flipped over, and Brandon hit the ground 30 feet away and was knocked completely unconscious. When he woke up, what must have been several hours later, he was disoriented, and his head was pounding. He staggered the ½ mile back to the farmhouse. Brandon hadn’t noticed the blood dripping down the back of his head and soaking his t-shirt. His mother immediately called 9-1-1 and he was taken to the nearest emergency room which was 20 miles away.

At the emergency room, he was evaluated and a CT scan of his head and neck was performed. He had a skull fracture and subdural hematoma which explained the pounding in his head and dizziness. He was flown to the nearest trauma center for stabilization and surgery. After surgery, he felt 100% back to normal and was released shortly thereafter. Brandon was considered essentially cured with directions to not do any strenuous mental or physical activity and to rest for the next month.  He was lucky that he had survived, and he was expected to make a full recovery.

However, Brandon had difficulty finishing his senior year of high school. He felt depressed, fatigued, and uninterested in school. He started playing video games all night and smoking pot. He graduated and couldn’t wait to get out of his house and go to college at the University of Kansas. However, when he got there it was more of the same, video games and cannabis were the only things that made sense to him at the time and he didn’t make it through a full semester. 

His parents had no idea what to do for him at this point their previously straight A/B student had turned into a video game junkie and pothead. Thinking this was merely video game addiction they sent him to treatment for tech addiction of which there is one near Amen Clinics in Seattle called ReSTART.

He was prescribed Prozac to help with depression and began to make progress, however, he still struggled with motivation, organization, and he was diagnosed with ADD as well.

When we scanned his brain, it was clear that he had had a brain injury because we could see the injury clearly. He had a pattern called “crossed cerebellar diaschisis.”

Brandon’s SPECT surface scan shows decreased asymmetrical prefrontal cortex.
Brandon’s SPECT active scan shows decreased cerebellar activity, known as “cross cerebellar diaschisis.

To make the most out of his treatment and to improve his chances at having a self-sufficient life we needed to make some changes.

We started him on supplements to target the brain damage (Brain & Body Power Max) and supplements for his prefrontal cortex (Focus and Energy). He had more of an “acquired ADD” which was due to brain injury vs. an ADD that he was born with. There are no medications for brain injury that help to heal the brain but there is good evidence that supplements, diet, and lifestyle changes can. Amen Clinics published on this in 2011 with 30 Retired and Active NFL football players who were put on this same program and rescanned to demonstrate improvements.

SPECT surface scans of an NFL Lineman before and after treatment with Amen Clinics.

Things began to come into focus for Brandon. He began to improve his motivation and engage in his recovery in earnest.

Another key to healing was Brandon’s diet. He had an interest in eating good food but didn’t know a frying pan from a pizza pan. Once we discussed that his brain uses 20-30% of the calories in his diet and that an injured brain often has difficulty fueling itself he was eager to try a few things. One of the dishes he learned to make was an egg scramble with vegetables like peppers, chard, and broccoli adding salt and pepper and curry powder. With protein, his blood sugar would be more stable, and his focus improved.

20-50% of patients with brain injury have damage to the pituitary gland. With a simple blood test, we were able to determine that Brandon had low testosterone and that it was due to a problem in his brain vs. of those with his testicles. Brandon had a condition called secondary hypogonadism were because of the damage to the pituitary gland in his brain testes were no longer getting the signal to produce testosterone. Signs of low testosterone are depression, fatigue, low sex drive, and irritability. All symptoms that Brandon was struggling with.

While Brandon’s energy and motivation had improved somewhat in about 8 weeks on the supplements, he received an additional benefit in mood, energy and drive with replenishing his testosterone stores. He found that he was more motivated to begin looking for work part-time while he transitioned out of the intensive stages of his treatment. At this point, Brandon’s depression had entirely lifted and he was hopeful. After 3 months however his treatment had plateaued, and he was still having some lingering memory and energy problems in that his endurance was not quite what it used to be when he was exercising, and he would become very sleepy if he read for too long.

We decided that he would embark on a series of HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments) and after 40 sessions he now felt in many ways better than he did before the accident. In part, he had grown up through the help he gained with treatment at ReSTART to help him structure his life and learn social skills and the day to day life skills that he would need to be independent and the brain function and healing that he would need to perform at an optimal level in both his relationship and his choice of work or schooling for the future.

What started out as a tech addiction, cannabis addiction and depression could be traced back to the sudden change in Brandon’s behavior after his brain injury. However, no one thought that healing his brain would be the key to his healing. Now it makes sense that was the only way he was going to have a chance at living a life with much higher functionality. At Amen Clinics we believe that taking a thorough look at the brain is a key to unlocking the answers that lead to lasting and sustained healing for patients.

About the Author: Kabran Chapek, ND, Amen Clinics Seattle

Dr. Kabran Chapek has been a staff physician at Amen Clinics since 2013. As a graduate of Bastyr University in the Seattle area, he is an expert in the use of functional and integrative treatments and collaborates extensively with many of the Amen Clinics physicians. He has a special interest in the assessment and treatment of Alzheimer’s and dementia, traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Dr. Chapek is the founding president of the Psychiatric Association of Naturopathic Physicians, an affiliate group of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

 

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.

 

Unfortunately, we hear news stories every day about another young person who has taken their life. To most people it is unfathomable someone who has so much to live for would feel such despair to want to die. But often we hear that the person who has taken their own life had head trauma.

Could a concussion make a person want to commit suicide?

After Dr. Daniel Amen, Founder and CEO of Amen Clinics, wrote a column on head trauma in a Northern California newspaper, he was contacted by a woman who told him a very sad story.  The woman said her daughter had been a model child up until the time she had a bike accident when she was about 18. She hit a branch, flew over the handlebars, landed face-first on the street, and momentarily lost consciousness. Since then, everything changed. The young woman went from being happy and cooperative to angry and moody. Therapy didn’t help, and the young woman eventually took her own life when she was just 20 years old. Her mother was heartbroken, especially when she discovered the connection between concussions and suicide and that there are things you can do to help heal the brain after a concussion. If only she had known earlier, she said.

What is a Concussion?

Concussions are a type of traumatic brain injury that temporarily interferes with normal brain function. Most people think that concussions always cause a person to black out or lose consciousness, but this isn’t the case. Many people who experience a concussion are never diagnosed and don’t even realize they’ve experienced one.

Concussions on the Rise

More than 2 million people each year suffer a head injury. And the number of concussions in the U.S. is rising, especially among younger people. The number of Americans diagnosed with a concussion rose 43% from 2010 to 2015. But among people between the ages of 10 and 19, it jumped up by 71 percent.

Some of the most common causes of concussions include:

The Hidden Dangers of Concussions

Concussions often cause headaches, nausea, confusion, fatigue, or amnesia about the event. These symptoms may last days, weeks, or even longer. But there are many other symptoms tied to concussions that may not appear until weeks or months after the incident.

Healthy Surface SPECT brain scan:

Surface SPECT brain scan of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):

For example, head injuries often damage the pituitary gland, an area within the brain that is involved in the production of hormones, including thyroid, estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and more. When the pituitary gland is damaged, it can result in hormonal imbalances that cause mood and energy problems, as well as other issues.

Having a head injury also increases the risk of many mental health conditions, including:

Sadly, many people do not associate new symptoms of mental illness or suicidal thoughts with a head injury they suffered months or years earlier. Because of this, they may receive treatment for depression and anxiety, for example, but they often do not get the help they need to heal the underlying traumatic brain injury. Too often, this results in someone taking their own life like the woman’s daughter you read about at the beginning of this blog.

Healing Concussions

To complement other treatments, there are ways to help heal the brain after a head injury or concussion, including:

If you are having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

At Amen Clinics, we have helped thousands of people with traumatic brain injuries or concussions to heal their brain and improve their quality of life. We use a combination of the least toxic, most effective therapies, which may include neurofeedback, HBOT, talk therapy, and medications, in addition to small lifestyle changes that can make a big difference. If you or someone you love has suffered a concussion or head injury, find out how we can help. Talk to a specialist today by calling 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.