Optimizing Brain Functions Part I:

[Guest guest]

Optimizing Brain Functions Part I: JoAnn Guest May 09, 2005 17:27 PDT

21st Century Supplementation for Slowing

...... ...Neurological Deterioration & Maximizing Potential

© 1999 Brewer Science Library, All rights reserved

Excerpted from New Horizons, Fall 1999

 

by Christina L. White

http://www.mwt.net/~drbrewer/brainfunction1.htm

Millions of baby boomers are beginning to experience the same kind of

mental decline that thirty or more years ago as teenagers they disliked

in their parents. Along with this youthful state usually comes a certain

ignorance and blindness that cannot believe that the creativity, sharp

memory, analytical thinking capacities, quick wit, and enthusiasm that

is experienced in the 20's and 30's can spiral downward to the

experience in their 50's of finding themselves opening the microwave

door instead of the refrigerator door, or temporarily forgetting their

sister-in-law's name during an introduction. These embarrassing

experiences become common occurrences for many people during their 50's

and 60's. Hope and help for slowing down brain deterioration is coming

from nutritional research and increased scientific understanding of a

variety of nutritional substances that can slow down and perhaps even

reverse some of this predicted decline.

 

STRESS AGES THE BRAIN

 

Recent research has confirmed that high levels of stress result in

long-term higher levels of the adrenal hormone cortisol in sensitive

brain tissue. Excessive levels of cortisol are so detrimental to the

brain and immune system that cortisol has been deemed by some as the

" death hormone " . These higher levels of cortisol correlate to increased

damage in the hippocampus area of the brain, an area intimately involved

in memory formation. This comes as no surprise to people who notice that

while they feel very stressed, they have trouble remembering things.

High levels of cortisol also depress the immune system. It is difficult

to measure cortisol levels accurately when over-stressed adrenals

release surges of cortisol. People who are weakened and debilitated or

suffer from autoimmune disorders often experience a worsening of their

condition after stressful events partly as a result of the destructive

effect of high levels of cortisol.

 

Adding stress-reducing activities into one's life such as walking,

meditating, breathing exercises, or simply doing more pleasurable

activities provides one way to lower one's response to stressful events.

Another avenue is providing the body with nutritional supplements that

can at least partially offset the brain neurotoxic and immune

debilitating effect of cortisol.

 

NUTRIENTS THAT HELP REDUCE STRESS:

 

Ginseng

 

One herb that has a great modulating effect on the stress response is

panax ginseng. Research with animals has shown that hormonal stimulus of

the adrenal glands from stress is affected by ginseng. It is considered

an " adaptogen " , an herb that helps the body's functional and metabolic

systems respond to any type of stressor in a balancing and normalizing

way.

 

Phosphatidylserine

 

Research with the elderly has shown that the phospholipid supplement

phosphatidylserine (PS) in dosages of 300 mg a day for 60 days may play

a unique role in helping to restore a more normal anti-stress response

in the region of the brain, the hypothalamus, that initiates the

fight-or-flight stress response. This area of the brain works in harmony

with the pituitary and the adrenal glands in response to stress. This

interactive system is known as the HPAA (hypothalamic

pituitary-adrenal-axis). Many chronically ill individuals have response

disorders in this glandular axis that contribute to their poor health.

 

Licorice Extract

 

Another supplement that may be helpful to individuals who have become

debilitated or feel " burned out " from too much stress is glycyrrhizin.

This active factor in licorice is extracted and sold as a supplement. In

the body it mimics the effects of cortisone. Its molecular structure is

similar to cortisol and it can relieve the over-stressed adrenal glands

from having to produce it. An in-depth discussion of this licorice

extract is available from the Brewer Science Library's New Horizons

Winter 98 issue.

 

Other Nutrients

 

Another avenue of help in reducing excessive production of cortisol can

be obtained through supplementing with significant amounts of vitamin C.

Animal research has shown that when healthy rats were subjected to a

stressful environment that mega doses of vitamin C caused a reduction of

blood levels of cortisol and other stress hormones. Vitamin C was shown

to help protect the animals' adrenal glands.

 

Hormones such as melatonin and DHEA have also been shown to provide some

protection against excess cortisol. For many individuals, though, even

small dosages of melatonin can cause them to feel groggy and lethargic

the next day. DHEA is a very powerful hormone whose use should be based

on blood tests. It is also contraindicated for cancer patients.

 

THE BASICS OF BRAIN HEALTH

 

Parts of the brain communicate with each other through a system of

neurotransmitters, chemicals that are released by brain cells that cause

chemical and electrical reactions in neurons and brain cells. This

resultant electrochemical activity can be seen on newer brain imaging

systems that display lighted up areas of the brain in response to

sensory and thought input. Although there are anywhere from 60 to 100

known neurotransmitters, at this time it is believed that only a few

transmitters are involved in most cognitive functions.

 

Neurotransmitters

 

Some of these neurotransmitters have stimulatory functions, some have

inhibitory functions, and some have both. Any deficiency in production

of these neurotransmitters can result in many undesirable effects such

as depressive moods, poor sleep quality, low sex drive, increased pain

susceptibility, poor memory or learning capabilities, low concentration,

and even low immune function. The body can manufacture these chemical

messengers from food nutrients, vitamins and minerals that most people

are familiar with. Amino acids, which are concentrated in protein foods

such as meat, cheese, eggs, fish, and poultry, are the source of most of

the neurotransmitters. The facilitation of these amino acids into

neurotransmitters particularly requires the presence of two B vitamins,

niacin and B6, and minerals such as magnesium and copper. The lack of

adequate levels of any of these required substances can result in a

deficiency of specific neurotransmitters. The good news is that

supplementation with specific amino acids can raise the production of

these neurotransmitters to levels that can result in increased learning

capacity, improvements in focus and concentration, improvement in immune

response, better moods, less pain and increased sex drive. (Part II of

this article will discuss supplementation of specific amino acids.)

 

PROTECTION AGAINST FREE RADICALS & GLUTAMATE TOXICITY

 

The accompanying article on Neurological Disease provides a description

of one of the main conditions that causes brain cell death. When

excessive amounts of glutamate (a chemical messenger in the brain)

accumulate, it causes a depolarization of the cell membrane. This

depolarization results in an influx of calcium and sodium ions into the

cell, which causes potassium ions to be displaced out of the cell. This

unbalanced condition starts a cascade of hyperactivity of the neurons,

with this depolarization escalating throughout many neuronal cells,

resulting in the death of many brain cells. As this same condition

occurs over and over throughout many years some areas of the brain

become more dysfunctional than others. Usually, the area involved with

short-term memory is affected.

 

Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease, as well as brain

strokes have all been linked to this destructive chemical cascade.

 

The accompanying article in this newsletter presents some European

research showing that vitamin B12, as methylcobalamin, is capable of

protecting animal brain cells from glutamate toxicity.

 

LITHIUM ALSO PROTECTS AGAINST GLUTAMATE TOXICITY

 

In his writings on lithium orotate, Dr. Hans Nieper stressed how the

primary function of lithium was the restoration of the proper electrical

membrane potential by removing excess sodium from the inside of the

cell. In the orotate form he was able to obtain results using small

dosages, about 7% of the carbonate form, to successfully treat manic

depression, migraine headaches, juvenile epilepsy, and alcoholism. Using

calcium and lithium orotate together, Dr. Nieper obtained significant

results in chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. He reported that 5 mg

of lithium orotate are closely equivalent to 100 mg of the carbonate

form. According to Dr. Nieper, the lithium orotate releases lithium ions

at the lysosomal membranes (structures within the cells), and withdraws

sodium from them. The net result is a stabilization of the lysosomal

membrane. If lysosomal enzymes are released within the cell they cause a

cascade of destruction that leads to cellular death. The stabilization

of the lysosomal membranes within the cell is a vitally important part

of maintaining cellular health.

 

In 1998 a break-through discovery was reported by researchers from the

National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. They discovered

that neurons (from rat brains) that were treated with lithium for six to

seven days were completely protected from glutamate toxicity. It seems

that the lithium attached itself to the receptors where the glutamate

normally docks. This prevented the hyperactivity and resultant overload

of calcium into the cell.

 

This exciting new understanding of one of lithium's protective actions

against neurotoxicity from excessive glutamate opens the doorway for

increased utilization of low dose lithium orotate. It appears that both

lithium and B12 (in the methylcobalamin form) have a very beneficial

role to play in protecting the human brain from this destructive

neurotoxic process.

 

(Dr. Nieper's writings on lithium orotate are available in packet form

from the Brewer Science Library for $9.50.)

 

MEMBRANE FLUIDITY

 

Another area that Dr. Nieper recognized as extremely important to

optimal nerve function is the composition of fatty acids in brain cell

membranes as well as in all the cellular membranes of the body.

 

The membranes of all the cells of the body are composed of fat-like

substances, called phospholipids, because they contain the mineral

phosphorus as well as several different kinds of fatty acids. The brain

and spinal cord together contain about 100 grams of phospholipids.

Phospholipids are also contained in all the subcellular membranes such

as the lysosomes and the mitochondria. The mitochondria are extremely

important subcellular structures since they are the powerhouses inside

each cell where all the energy in the form of ATP is made for all

cellular actions.

 

These membrane layers are constantly being renewed and replaced on

trillions of cellular and subcellular membranes. The importance of

supplying the proper phospholipids cannot be overemphasized. Immersed

within the " membrane matrix " with part of their structure exposed on the

outside of each cell are numerous receptors, mostly composed of amino

acids. These receptors are like a lock and only respond to a specific

chemical " key " . These receptors are in control of cellular activity.

Specific receptors exist for different hormones and various growth

factors that control the activities inside the cell.

 

Replacement phospholipids can be obtained completely formed from foods

such as eggs, or from supplements such as lecithin. Phospholipids are

easily absorbed in the intestine and pass through the blood-brain

barrier to become part of the membranes of brain cells, as well as part

of the membranes of nerve cells throughout the body.

 

Membranes are incredibly important to the proper functioning of the

brain, and they must be permeable enough to allow the transport of vital

nutritional substances into the cell. This permeability is also spoken

of as fluidity. They must also be healthy and strong enough to be

selectively permeable, and not allow substances into the cell that would

upset the delicate metabolic balance.

 

Membranes that become hard and rigid are not healthy and do not

transport glucose and nutrients into the cell adequately. This results

in inadequate energy production within the cell. Recent research has

indicated that trans-fats, unhealthy fats found in hydrogenated

margarine and some baked goods, become incorporated into cell membranes

and make them rigid and less permeable to the nutritive substances the

cell requires.

 

Long before it became popular, Dr. Nieper used one of the phospholipids

that is a constituent of lecithin, phosphatidylethanolamine, to

dramatically improve membrane health. In combination with minerals such

as calcium, magnesium and potassium, he found these substances of such

value that he coined the term " membrane integrity factor " for them.

 

The ability of nerve cells to send messages to each other involves both

chemical and electro-chemical processes and is dependent upon membrane

potential.

 

The body can synthesize the phospholipids it needs if it is supplied

with a very high quality diet. If the right building blocks are not

provided either in the diet or in supplement form, then the health of

the cellular membranes will suffer and they may become " weak and leaky " ,

easily breaking down and not being able to receive or transmit

information easily.

 

There are several different phospholipids that are important to the

body.

 

Phosphatidylethanolamine

 

The most prominent phospholipid in the brain, as well as in the myelin

sheath, is the form that Dr. Nieper utilized to treat many different

diseases with, phosphatidylethanolamine.

 

About forty percent of the gray matter and thirty-four percent of the

white matter of the brain consists of this form of phospholipid.

 

One of the other phospholipids that has come to prominence in the last

few years, phosphatidylserine, can be metabolized to the ethanolamine

form. They both are very important in maintaining the integrity of the

membranes, and each probably has specialized functions in the matrix of

the membrane

 

Phosphatidylcholine

 

Phosphatidylcholine is another important phospholipid that is found in

significant amounts in the supplement, lecithin. Its use has

predominantly been to help improve liver function, especially fatty

liver conditions.

 

A Japanese research study used laboratory rats with brain lesions to

determine if supplementation of either phosphatidylcholine or vitamin

B12 could improve their stunted learning ability and memory. Levels of

both choline and the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, which is needed

for memory formation, were found to be low in the animals with brain

lesions. The study used three groups of rats to test its hypothesis. One

group was given supplemental phosphatidylcholine only, another group was

given vitamin B12 only and the third group was given both supplements.

 

Only the animals given both B12 and phosphatidylcholine improved their

ability to form new memories and improve their learning skills.

 

Subscribe to New Horizons

 

 

--