The Neuro Map

The Neuro Map

This month is rockin. I will be speaking at 3 different meetings! I would like to invite you all. It's this Wednesday, July 8th, 2:00pm at Mountain People's Organics located at the Columbia Airport. I will be talking about brain health. Fuel and Activation Baby!
RSVP here.
Also, July's promotion is 50% discount on a brain map of your very own brain. Which includes a BrainMap, a detailed color report and a  20 minute consult. Read all about the Brain Map below.

The Neuro Map: It’s What Makes Our System Better

The Clear Mind system includes the Neuro mapping feature, which gives you the whole picture for each person in a detailed report. Also known as brain mapping, this process allows you to visualize inside the brain and identify very clearly the irregular brainwaves that cause neurological issues. From that brain map, a report is generated for each patient that shows the areas of dysfunction and the protocols recommended to address them.

A customized system means more accurate training, faster results and happier patients. This results in a higher success rate and can lead to quality referrals and more business through your door.

How Does Brain Mapping Work?

Using a cap placed on the scalp, our software captures the electrical impulses in the brain. This method is known as an electroencephalogram (EEG). The results show brain wave patterns in different parts of the brain. The process takes about 15 minutes, and the data is then converted into a visual brain map report. We analyze the brain map report and identify any problem areas. The report will display the results in a clear and concise format that can be easily understood.

The Brain Map Report

Here are several pages from the brain map report:

  

This page shows an analysis of each lobe of the brain (frontal, parietal, central, temporal and occipital) for each type of brain wave: Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta. Green indicates a normal level, red is elevated and yellow is extreme.

The Discriminants Analysis page (below) shows a visual meter for the major functions of the brain, such as the cognitive, emotional, memory processing, executive functions, and more.

The Emotional and Cognitive Analysis compares the results of your self-assessment against the results of the brain map and helps identify problem areas within the brain. Red indicates a strong potential match, green indicates no match.

The Midline Analysis is a visual reference of your brainwaves compared to normal ones. Gray bars are normal levels, color bars are from your brain map.

Based on the results of your brain map, the report will generate suggested protocols for training your brain back into normal ranges, as well as suggested supplements.

This report was taken from the ClearMind website. Learn more by clicking here .

CoQ10 for Exercise Recovery

CoQ10 for Exercise Recovery

Posted on Tue, May 05, 2015 @ 09:56 AM

Designs for Health Research & Education Blog

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Another name for coenzyme Q10—ubiquinone—gives us an idea of just how important a compound it is, and how frequently it’s found in living organisms. It is “ubiquitous,” as it is found in almost all cell membranes and lipoproteins, where it inhibits the peroxidation of structural lipids. Its most well-known role, however, is in transferring electrons along the mitochondrial electron transport chain. The “10” part of CoQ10 refers to its biochemical structure, which consists of ten isoprene units attached to a benzoquinone head. 

CoQ10 is a fat-soluble compound synthesized endogenously on a branch of the mevalonate pathway, which also produces cholesterol. Dietary sources highest in CoQ10 are animal proteins (beef, poultry and fish), with smaller amounts occurring in nuts and seeds, and even smaller amounts found in some vegetables and fruits. Among animal sources of CoQ10, the richest concentrations occur in hardworking tissue, such as heart, liver and kidney. Because it can be synthesized internally, it’s not technically an “essential” nutrient. However, as is the case with many vitamins and minerals, supplemental amounts of this nutrient may be beneficial forameliorating specific health conditions, preventing or limiting oxidative damage, and giving the body a leg up when it comes to performing certain tasks. 

One area in which CoQ10 may offer a slight advantage is in physical exercise performance and recovery. This isn’t surprising, considering its aforementioned role in the mitochondrial electron transport chain—the mechanism by which the vast majority of skeletal muscle cells’ energy (ATP) is generated. Sufficient CoQ10, therefore, is instrumental in providing the body with the energy to perform physical exercise, but this nutrient’s role extends even further than that. As a powerful antioxidant, supplemental CoQ10 has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation induced by strenuous exercise. In highly trained male athletes, oral CoQ10supplementation was shown to decrease membrane hydroperoxides, 8-Hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG, a marker for DNA damage due to oxidation), and the inflammatory marker, TNF-α. It also resulted in reduced creatinine excretion, suggestive of decreased muscle tissue damage.

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving elite Japanese athletes engaging in long bouts of kendo (a martial art) showed that CoQ10 supplemented at 300mg/day was effective for lowering lipid peroxidation, serum myoglobin, and serum creatine kinase compared to placebo, suggesting that supplementation may reduce exercise-induced muscle damage.

These findings are logical, given CoQ10’s well-recognized antioxidant function. Regarding the role of CoQ10 in enhancing athletic performance, however, a systematic review of studies provided mixed results. Studies included trained as well as untrained subjects, across a variety of activities, including cycling, skiing, and general athletics. In the studies that did show a benefit from CoQ10, the positive changes were in maximum oxygen consumption, and exercise capacity. It may be that supplementation only benefited those with lower levels to begin with, and most of the studies involved small sample sizes, which may have weakened the findings.

There may still be a small role for CoQ10 in athletic performance, however. In a double-blind, crossover RCT employing 300mg/day of CoQ10, the test group reached a greater maximum velocity and reported reduced subjective fatigue, compared to placebo, after performing workload trials on a bicycle ergometer.

Rather than providing athletes—and weekend warriors, alike—with a performance edge during exercise, it seems the benefits of CoQ10 are more closely tied to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory function. The CoQ10-mediated decrease in cellular damage incurred by exercise may reduce recovery time and better prepare athletes for their next training session.

Bottom line: CoQ10 isn’t going to turn a couch potato into an Olympic medalist, but by decreasing the cellular damage induced by exercise, and reducing feelings of fatigue, it might help people engage more frequently in physical activities they enjoy, which may contribute to overall improved health.

Current Events

What is going on? Changes everywhere To start with, our newsletter and website is a change that I'll be keeping up on. I have asked you for your email address to add to you to our newsletter and here it is finally. I will be sending it out periodically. Once a month or a couple of times a year:). Please visit Communitychiro.org and like us on facebook. Our office is keeping busy being a presence in our community. We attended an open house for Crossfit Sonora, took part in some work out classes and met some wonderful people. We had a booth at the 4th annual Spirit Mind Body Expo at the Sonora Opera Hall. Introduced Dr. Jose Barajas, DC and explained to many of you about new Neurofeedback therapy from Clearmindcenter.com (more about this later). Most recently we were at the ICES children's resource fair at the Motherlode Fairgrounds letting parents know that chiropractic is for children too! I got a first hand feel at how it is to stand on cement floors all day. I tried to pay my children/husband to massage my feet but had no takers. This weekend we will be participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. It is a 24 hour walk to raise money to fight cancer. We are Team Melody representing and honoring Melody Holloway who had liver cancer when she was 3. She will be turning 6 this summer and we are so grateful for spirit and will. Please join us at Sonora Elementary May 2nd at 9 am for the survivor lap and walk with us to fight cancer. . I would like to introduce Dr. Jose Barajas. He has joined us here at Community Chiropractic maintaining his independent practice. He comes to us as a 5 year graduate from Palmer Chiropractic College West, in the bay area. He is from Modesto and looking forward to moving to Tuolumne County soon. He is able to see patients same day and take walk-ins. Part of the interview process is giving me an adjustment, and he passed with flying colors. I trust him with my spine, you can too. Keeping with the current theme of exercise and fitness here is an article from Mercola.com New Study Shows Exercises and Chiropractic Care Beat Drugs for Neck Pain According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health, medication is not the best option for treating neck pain. After following 272 neck-pain patients for 12 weeks, those who used a chiropractor or exercise were more than twice as likely to be pain free compared to those who took medication. Specifically: 32 percent who received chiropractic care became pain free 30 percent of those who exercised became pain free 13 percent of those treated with medication became pain free Researchers concluded: "For participants with acute and subacute neck pain, SMT [spinal manipulation therapy] was more effective than medication in both the short and long term. However, a few instructional sessions of HEA [home exercise with advice] resulted in similar outcomes at most time points." Why Exercise is Essential if You Have Neck Pain Because exercise often leads to improved posture, range of motion and functionality of your body, it can help treat the underlying source of your pain as well as help prevent chronic neck pain from developing in the first place. Exercise helps prevent and relieve pain through a number of mechanisms including strengthening key supportive muscles and restoring flexibility. Not surprisingly, repetitive strain injuries have become increasingly common as so many people spend most of their work days sitting in front of computers. Computer work is associated with neck pain specifically originating from the trapezius muscle, also referred to as trapezius myalgia, and many types of neck pain can be traced back to poor posture at work or during your commute. It's a vicious cycle as poor sitting posture leads to neck pain and once neck pain develops, it can make your posture even worse. For instance, one study showed people with chronic neck pain demonstrate a reduced ability to maintain an upright posture when distracted.iii The same study further revealed, however, that after following a specific exercise program, people with neck pain had an improved ability to maintain a neutral cervical posture during prolonged sitting, which suggests it may help break the poor posture/neck pain cycle. Other research has similarly shown that exercise is incredibly beneficial for treating neck pain including: Research in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that repetitive strain injury caused by office work can be reduced using certain strength training exercises.iv A study published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism showed that strength training targeting the neck and shoulder muscles is the most beneficial treatment for women with chronic neck muscle pain as opposed to a general fitness routine.v Read more here.

ADHD and Neurofeedback

NO MORE STIMULANTS

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Living with a child with ADD or ADHD can be confusing, exhausting and very stressful. From “explaining” their behaviors to others and researching different medications and side effects of those medications it can begin to consume your entire life.

According to the Center For Disease Control, approximately 11% of children 4-17 years of age (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011. And those numbers are growing each year, the percentage of children with an ADHD diagnosis continues to increase, from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007 and to 11.0% in 2011. The main form of treatment for children struggling with ADHD is stimulant medication, which can have serious and detrimental side effects like loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, stomachaches, or emotional issues.

There is another way and it doesn’t involve medication, it involves science and reconditioning your children’s brain. Neurofeedback therapy is a natural process that enables us to measure and view brain waves. Brain waves occur at various frequencies. Some are fast, and some are quite slow. But remember, there is no bad or good wave. But, if we have too much of one or the other, the imbalance can negatively affect us. Through Neurofeedback therapy we can help your child regulate undesirable brain activity and enhance desirable brain activity, all without medication.
Sounds pretty amazing right? Well, it is! If you’re still on the fence about it, don’t hesitate to schedule a free consultation with Tamara Lund, DC today and learn more about this revolutionary new treatment that’s leaving pill bottles and side effects in the rear view mirror.

Posted by Nicole McGuffin / ADHD, Learning Disabilities, The Brain / 0

Insomnia and Sleep Disorders

Sleep Disorders
At least 40 million Americans each year suffer from chronic, long-term sleep disorders, and an additional 20 million experience occasional sleep problems. Neurofeedback is a powerful tool for regulating sleep. Health professionals around the world report significant improvement in a large percentage of their clients using neurofeedback to treat chronic, long term sleep problems.

What are the most commonly reported sleep issues that improve with neurofeedback training?

1. Insomnia – Difficulty falling asleep; difficulty maintaining sleep during the night
2. Difficulty waking from sleep
3. Difficulty getting to bed
4. Not feeling rested after sleep
5. Sleeping too long (over 10 hours)
6. Physically restless sleep
7. Nightmares
8. Bedwetting (Nocturnal enuresis)
9. Sleepwalking
10. Restless leg syndrome – Leg discomfort or sleep causing movement & arousal
11. Bruxism – teeth grinding during sleep
12. Sleep terrors – Abrupt arousal with intense fear, difficult to awaken, no dream recall or memory of event
13. Narcolepsy
14. Dysregulated sleep patterns/cycles (circadian rhythms)

Many of the conditions helped with EEG biofeedback are correlated with disorders of sleep. These include epilepsy, anxiety and depression, closed head injury, hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder, chronic pain and fibromyalgia, Tourette’s syndrome. Even when poor sleep is not the cause for referral for biofeedback, it is often mentioned as a problem during the intake interview. The first reported signs of change upon initiating EEG training often relate to the quality of sleep. We believe that the principal mechanism of efficacy of EEG training is that it normalizes self-regulation of physiological arousal, and the beneficial effects of the training on sleep can be explained in the same manner. When self-regulation is deficient, this should be apparent when arousal level is least tightly regulated, i.e. during sleep in general, and during transitions between sleep stages in particular. Nothing so cogently demonstrates that EEG biofeedback confers a new competence to the brain–as opposed to a consciously applied tool to the patient–than its efficacy in remediating disorders of sleep.

Bedwetting is among the most common symptoms seen in our clinical population, which consists largely of persons with attentional deficits (bedwetting is seen in 30% of institutionalized children; i.e. there is a high correlation with minor neurological deficits). In more than 90% of children under twelve with this condition, remediation is expected within the first twenty sessions of training. In older children and in adults, the problem is more resistant to remediation. It may take more training sessions than in younger children. We have seen much lower incidence of sleep walking, sleep talking, and night terrors. However, remediation is also observed for these conditions. Excessive fears about falling asleep, or about sleeping in one’s own bed, usually remediate very quickly with the onset of training.

There is an intimate connection of insomnia with disorders of arousal such as anxiety and depression. The success of EEG training in effecting improved self-regulation of arousal should, therefore, be expected to result in improved regulation of sleep in these cases, and that is what we observe.

Sleep apnea is generally thought to consist of a central, neurological component, and a somatic, obstructive component, the latter due to the fact that the condition closely correlates with obesity. Obstructive sleep apnea has historically been treated surgically, with rather poor outcomes, so that surgery is now gradually being abandoned in favor of a breathing aid device which provides continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). EEG training has been successful in fully remediating apnea episodes in adult males, even in the absence of any other behavioral changes such as weight loss. The condition is seen as arising from cortical under arousal.

Neurofeedback training often helps these problems as it improves brain regulation. These are common reports: A 75 year-old reported recently that she “slept like a baby for the first time in 25 years” after neurofeedback training. Parents of children with ADHD often say it’s easier to get their kids to sleep. Depressed clients remark they have a much easier time getting going in the morning.

The role of the brain and sleep
The brain regulates sleep. Neuroscience has established the role of neuromodulator systems in the brainstem that play a role in maintaining awake states and, conversely, help the brain sleep. The EEG (brainwaves) clearly reflects changes in sleep stages. Training brainwaves using neurofeedback to decrease or increase slow brainwave activity, or to increase specific EEG activation patterns appears to help the brain normalize sleep. Based on reports from a large number of licensed health professionals the evidence shows that training the EEG impacts sleep regulatory mechanisms and people sleep better. Since sleep is complex and involves many systems, it is not possible to suggest that sleep problems always improve as a result of neurofeedback. But clinicians say that they routinely expect changes to occur in sleep patterns after appropriate training for a large percentage of their patients. As with any program, a complete sleep assessment is helpful. Sleep hygiene issues (including caffeine, alcohol and other behavioral factors) and other potential contributory factors such as possible sleep apnea also need to be carefully reviewed and corrected in combination with neurofeedback training.

Sleep is a good example of the research challenge of neurofeedback. There are good neurofeedback studies in ADHD, epilepsy and addiction. The fact that no significant studies exist on sleep and neurofeedback is remarkable. In virtually every study related to neurofeedback outcomes, changes to sleep are noted, but not always highlighted or even reported.

Sleep researchers are primarily unaware of neurofeedback and its implications for insomnia and other sleep disorders. Hopefully, cross-fertilization between clinically-oriented therapists and sleep researchers can occur. As in many academic areas, this kind of cross fertilization can take significant time and funding. Because of the vast amount of literature about brain regulation, sleep and the EEG, there is a solid basis for using neurofeedback with sleep problems. Hundreds of experienced licensed professionals have used this modality successfully to improve sleep for over 25 years.

WHAT IS NEUROFEEDBACK?

WHAT IS NEUROFEEDBACK?
Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback that uses electroencephalography (EEG) to provide a signal that can be used by a person to receive feedback about brain activity. The EEG signal is fed into computer software first then the feedback, usually a movie or music, is returned to the person being trained.  This feedback loop can produce changes in brainwave activity. The process used to adjust brainwave activity is known as operant conditioning, which is a method where rewards for positive behavior increase learning capabilities.

The concept is fairly simple. The computer monitors your brainwaves while you watch a movie or listen to music. When deviations from normal brainwave activity occur, the computer triggers an audio or visual cue that alerts the patient that they are outside normal ranges. These cues are received by the brain, which subconsciously adjusts itself back to a normal pattern to make the cue stop. With enough repetition of this process, the brain eventually learns to stay in the normal ranges on its own without the computer. With the brain functioning normally on its own, symptoms of irregular brain activity will decline.

It has been well documented that people who suffer neurological problems have abnormal brain waves in certain areas of the brain. For instance, case studies using QEEG “brain maps” have shown that people with Attention-Deficit-Disorder (ADD) have elevated delta brainwaves, while those who suffer from depression have elevated alpha brainwaves. Those with anxiety will have elevated Beta brainwaves, while those suffering from memory loss usually have decreased theta brainwaves.

Training the brain using neurofeedback can change these brainwaves over time, adjusting them into normal, healthy ranges. It can improve alertness, attention, emotional regulation, behavior, cognitive function, and mental flexibility. When the brain moves back into normal ranges, users will often see a reduction in symptoms.

The best part of neurofeedback is that results are often permanent, allowing a person to reduce or even eliminate medications altogether. Where medications only manage the symptoms, the goal of neurofeedback is to address the underlying cause and restore normal brainwave functions.

Why Should Children Have Chiropractic Care?

Written by Jeanne Ohm, D.C.

More and more parents are seeking chiropractic care for their children. Many spinal problems seen in adults began as early as birth. Even so called “natural” birthing methods can stress an infant’s spine and developing nerve system. The resulting irritation to the nerve system caused by spinal and cranial misalignment can be the cause of many newborn health complaints. Colic, breathing problems, nursing difficulties, sleep disturbances, allergic reactions and chronic infections can often be traced to nerve system stress. Since significant spinal trauma can occur at birth, many parents have their newborns checked right away. As the infant grows, learning to hold up the head, sit, crawl and walk are all activities that affect spinal alignment and are important times to have a child checked by a Doctor of Chiropractic. As the child begins to participate in regular childhood activities like skating or riding a bike, small yet significant spinal misalignments (subluxations) may occur. If neglected, the injuries during this period of rapid growth may lead to more serious problems later in life. Subtle trauma throughout childhood will affect the future development of the spine leading to impaired nervous system function. Any interference to the vital nerve system will adversely affect the body’s ability to function at its best. One of the most common reasons parents seek care for their child is trauma from an injury of some sort. These misalignments may or may not result in immediate pain or symptoms. Regular chiropractic checkups can identify potential spinal injury from these traumas, make the correction early in life and help avoid many of the health complaints seen later in adults. Proper spinal hygiene is an important key to better health. Another sought out reason for care is the resolution of a particular symptom or condition. Parents seek care for conditions such as colic, ear infections, asthma, allergies and headaches (to name a few) because they have heard from other parents that chiropractic care can help. It is important to understand that the Doctor of Chiropractic does not treat conditions or diseases. The expertise of the chiropractor is in checking the child’s spine for misalignments that impair nervous system function therefore affecting overall body function. The bones of the spine, the vertebrae, house and protect the spinal cord. The spinal cord is an extension of the brain and carries information from the brain to the body parts and back to the brain again. Subluxations interfere with the nerves’ ability to transmit this vital information. The nerve system controls and coordinates the function of all the systems in the body: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, hormonal, eliminative and immune system. Any aspect of health may be impaired by nerve interference. The chiropractic adjustment restores nerve system function allowing the body the ability to express a greater state of health and well-being. The Doctor of Chiropractic will take a case history and perform a chiropractic exam to determine if spinal subluxations exist. Chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified to fit a child’s size, weight, and unique spinal condition. They are both gentle and specific to the child’s developing spinal structures. Most parents report that their children enjoy their chiropractic adjustments and look forward to subsequent visits. They also report that their children experience a greater level of health while under regular chiropractic care. To enhance your child’s ability to function in a greater state of health, we can help you find a Doctor of Chiropractic near you who is dedicated to serving children with the utmost of care. Once your family has experienced the many benefits of chiropractic care—please help us tell others! About the Author: Dr. Ohm is a practicing DC in a family, wellness based practice since 1981. She is an international lecturer on the topic "Chiropractic Care in Pregnancy and Infancy" to practicing Chiropractors and affiliated Care Providers. A Post Graduate Instructor for numerous Chiropractic Colleges, ahe is also the author of many papers on pregnancy, birth, children and chiropractic. Dr. Ohm is the founder of Makin' Miracles...Connecting Kid's n' Chiropractic, a community outreach program to educate children and adults about the life saving benefits of chiropractic. Ahe is also the producer and writer of the children's chiropractic song, "Power On!" and educational video, "Birth Trauma: A Modern Epidemic." In addition, she is the Executive Coordinator for the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, and editor of the I.C.P.A.'s bimonthly newsletter.