*Dental infections - gateway to our blood stream and can open tight junctions causing “leaky” brain and gut *Systemic Infections- such as Lyme, Epstein Barr Virus, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes viruses (HSV I and II and HHV-6) *Gut impermeability - “leaky gut”, gut infections and lack of proper enzymes.
*Smoking – chemicals, toxins and reactive oxygen species – need I say more *Obesity- relates to increased blood sugar from a poor diet but also increased insulin to respond to the sugar demands and actually creates its own cytokine activity which is inflammatory. Meditation is an excellent way to reduce stress and retrain the neuropathways. *Stress- increases cortisol and inflammation in a chronic state so once again I am reminding you to find ways of reducing your stress. Progesterone is neuroprotective and anti-inflammatoryĮstrogen preserves the BBB and pregnenolone supports neuronal activity necessary for memory (I have not read the latter, but truly respect the author) Perlmutter, MD as well as his Better Brain book. *Poor diet – especially dairy “casein” & grains and refined sugars– a great read is “Grain Brain” by Dr. The mother gets exposed to plastics which get transferred in uterine and through breast feeding and then they disrupt the gut and brain- causing toxicity and more food sensitivities.
Organophosphates (sprayed on many of our foods that are not organic)īPA free is not safe- these plastics have molecules for BPB and C which are similar to BPA and are just as bad - so no plastics!!įYI- Autistic children have 15x more BPA (or B and C) bound to tissues which is a target for Auto-Immunity. Xenobiotic (see September Newsletter) residues bind to human tissue forming new antigens to attach the chemicals or toxins and then the tissues become target for auto immunity causing neurological diseases and inflammation Mold exposure causing mycotoxins leading to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) Non-heavy metal toxins such as glyphosates in “GMO foods” which is fertilized with Roundup Please stop eating large fish- methyl mercury is especially toxic for brain as methyl mercury binds to the cerebellum and damages the BBB. Toxic Heavy metals especially Antimony present in Fire Retardants, Aluminum and Mercury. Let’s dive into these a little more so you have a better idea as to why they are triggers and damaging. Triggers that induces this process include but are not limited to environmental toxins, poor diet high, physical inactivity, hormonal imbalances, psychosocial stressors, obesity, smoking, altered gut permeability and infections, dental infections, sleep deprivation, lack of anti-oxidants, and nutritional deficiencies.
Identifying possible triggers for Neuroinflammation are key to helping you know how to avoid them and work to correct them! As you can imagine this becomes a vicious cycle that gets out of control and leads to major trouble for you and your brain. As a result, our inflammatory cytokines (which include Interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-1 beta) will induce neuronal cytotoxicity causing cell death and more tissue damage and inflammation. However, with chronic injury or infections our Blood Brain Barrier, BBB gets compromised (causing leaky brain) and then microglia cells will generate reactive oxygen species, and this releases signals to recruit the peripheral immune cells for an inflammatory response. At this point there is no peripheral immune response and is a normal way for our brain to heal. The brain produces cytokines in response to injury or injection and they then recruit microglia to “prune” and clear the injury or infection. Although our brain has a natural process in dealing with “injury” it can get out of control under a chronic inflammatory situation. Neuroinflammation happens when our Central Nervous System, CNS (brain and spinal cord) starts to dysregulate in a chronic situation in response to brain injury. Symptoms of brain fog and fatigue, forgetfulness and confusion can all be signs that your brain is inflamed which is a scary thought to us all, but rest assured it can be reversed if caught early enough and is key to keeping us feeling healthy and vibrant as we age.
As much as we might laugh this off as “getting older” these are not just senior moments or a part of the natural aging, this is a sign of Neuroinflammation.