The UltraMind Solution (134 page)

Sometimes it is not a toxin, allergen, infection, or nutrient-poor diet that makes us depressed or mentally ill. Sometimes it is just life itself—a divorce, childhood trauma, the death of a loved one, a crazy boss, or a major trauma.

During those times in life, seeking help from a trained psychotherapist, a social worker, or even a personal coach can be lifesaving and may help guide you through troubled times.

In traditional cultures, the family and social structure provided a container and meaning for all life’s events. Today, unfortunately, many of us are left alone to struggle through life’s transitions and questions. Getting support can help you heal and recover along with the UltraMind Solution.

As a former emergency room physician, I recognize that extreme times call for extreme measures. I use and support the intelligent, appropriate use of medication, including psychotropic medications when needed. They can often be helpful as a bridge for recovery from all the stresses and toxins that affect our brain and mind.

It may take months or years to heal from damage that has occurred over a lifetime. In extreme cases, the damage may be so deep that full recovery is not possible using the UltraMind Solution (although most see remarkable results in a few weeks). In some cases, combining medication with the tools of the UltraMind Solution can give people their lives back.

Working with an experienced psychopharmacologist who welcomes the integration of nutrition, supplements, exercise, and mind-body therapies is sometimes a necessary step to recovering a whole life.

Many times medications can be reduced or eliminated after applying the principles found in the UltraMind Solution
.

I would caution you that psychotropic medications offer only partial solutions, often packaged with side effects. Tread intelligently, expect bumps on the road, and seek to find the causes of your suffering, which may be found in the stories of your life, on your plate, in your lifestyle, or in your toxic environment. You will rarely find the solution to your problems in a prescription bottle.

If you need to, use medication without guilt just as you would any other tool to rebuild your life. And do not be afraid to put it down when you have rebuilt your health and your world.

A few other herbs and nutrients deserve special mention. I often find these beneficial in patients with mood or memory problems. I encourage you to work with your healthcare practitioner when you use these herbs and nutrients. They can be used safely and effectively for many.

Huperzine A

Huperzine A is derived from Chinese club moss and has shown significant benefits in dementia with few side effects. Clinical trials have shown that huperzine A is comparably effective to the drugs currently on the market, and may even be a bit safer in terms of side effects. It works by increasing acetylcholine in the brain, in a similar way to the current medications for Alzheimer’s.

Currently, the National Institute on Aging is conducting a Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficiency of huperzine A in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in a randomized controlled trial of its effect on cognitive function.

The recommended dose is 100 mcg twice a day.

Vinpocetine

Vinpocetine is an extract of the periwinkle plant. More than fifty studies have found it effective in improving blood flow to the brain, improving energy production in the brain, and preventing blood clots.

The recommended dose is 5 to 10 mg twice a day.

If you are taking blood-thinning medicine, do not take this herb.

Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba is a powerful brain antioxidant and improves circulation. It has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine for memory and mental health.

Take Ginkgo Leaf Extract 80 to 160 mg twice a day (
Ginkgo biloba
)— standardized to 24 percent ginkgoflavonglycosides and 6 percent terpene lactones.

St. John’s Wort

St. John’s Wort contains many phytonutrients, called hypericins, that are helpful in the treatment of depression. It can be helpful in those with serotonin deficiency or with anxiety or sleep problems. Do not combine this with any other antidepressants or psychotropic medication (such as MAO inhibitors).

The therapeutic dose is 300 to 450 mg twice a day.

SAMe

SAMe is an amino acid that is formed as part of your methylation cycle. It has been researched extensively and found effective for depression.

Start with a dose of 400 mg four times a day, or 800 mg twice a day.

A response usually occurs within three weeks and you can then reduce the dose to 400 mg twice a day.

Use with your methylation supplement and magnesium.

If you have bipolar disorder, use this amino acid only with your doctor’s supervision.

The Future of Medicine

——————

You will observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known and exist, before it is generally received and practiced upon.

—
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Many of my patients know intuitively that their various complaints must be related in some fashion. They don’t know exactly what’s wrong or how to find the answers, but they know that it is not in the type of medical care we have now. They understand that a healthcare system focused on specialization and pharmacologic treatments of specific “diseases” often misses the underlying story of the origins and the reasons for their suffering.

They intuitively know that a new approach to medicine, one in which we treat the underlying systems that cause disease when they are out of balance, would work better than the paradigm we are currently stuck in. They know this even if they have never heard the terms Functional Medicine or “systems biology.”

Nonetheless, I, like almost every other doctor in the country, was trained to be a clinical pharmacologist, not a clinical physiologist, biochemist, geneticist, or practitioner of Functional Medicine. I was trained to dispense medication. I was not trained to process or understand biological information systems, or to make sense of patterns and relationships and connections in biological systems. I was not trained to see how everything communicates with everything else.

However, by treating thousands of patients like Clayton (whom you learned about in Part I) and all the others you have learned about in this book for more than twenty years, and by studying the rich medical literature that explains, in detail, the way the underlying systems in our body create health or illness, I have been able to develop a whole new way of understanding medicine, one that is radically different than the method of diagnosis and treatment I was trained in.

We are in the middle of an information revolution—not just in technology but also in biology. What I have studied and learned about for more than a decade now is the future of medicine. Functional Medicine and systems biology are the wave of the future, and it is what you just learned while you read
The UltraMind Solution.