Neuro-Inflammation and Neurological Problems

Hey, this is Dr. Hagebusch!

This post will briefly discuss a post-doctorate course I took, “Neuroinflammation Clinical Strategies and Treatment Applications” given by Dr. Datis Kharrazian.

Dr. Kharrazian is a functional neurologist and PhD in immunology and researcher focusing on the brain, immune function. and autoimmunity.

Dr. Kharrazian is probably best known for his work in ‘functional medicine‘ which really is a misnomer as it has nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with improving dysfunction in the body by identifying the root causes of the problem then correcting it.

I have written about functional neurology concepts and treatment extensively on this blog.

It’s a fascinating and massively under-appreciated part of a health practice that seeks to identify problem areas of the nervous system and improve them generally through conservative means including what’s called ‘receptor-based‘ treatment, rehabilitation, lifestyle changes, and specific recommendations.

I’ve done well over 500 post-doctorate hours in functional neurology and neurological rehab.

This type of work is based on identifying dysfunction in the brain or any other areas of the nervous system like a child’s developmental delays or abnormalities (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc), kids/adults – migraines, headaches, vertigo, dizziness, chronic pain, other pain syndromes, changes in the autonomic nervous system, nerve problems, and other problems – and then using different types of non-drug treatments to make a change and improve the function and symptoms over time.

It’s not a ‘cure‘ for a neurological disease.

Functional Neurology is a method of improving function and therefore helping people feel and function better.

In this recent seminar, Dr. Kharrazian went over a lot of the latest research on what happens with the immune system in the brain with various problems and what has been shown to help.

This is very important because it generally takes decades before current research is implemented into clinical practice by healthcare providers of all types.

This sounds like it’s complicated and that it probably doesn’t matter to you.

As you’re about to find out, it matters a lot to you because it directly effects you or someone you love, virtually guaranteed.

This was a high level course, but I want to share some insight from the seminar with you over a few blog posts.

This will be especially relevant if you or someone you care about is experiencing ongoing symptoms that aren’t responding well to conventional care or have periods of fairly bad symptoms like depression, brain fog, low energy, etc… and for people with a history of:

• Hitting their head, ever having a concussion (AKA traumatic brain injury),
• ‘silent’ or mini-strokes,
• any autoimmune condition (including low thyroid which is usually Hashimoto’s disease, many chronic gut
• gut problems including issues like Chron’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and many cases of IBS,
• seizures,
• diabetes,
• anemia,
• breathing problems (asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, COPD, and more…),
• fibromyalgia,
• brain fog,
• short term memory loss,
• dementia,
• kids with developmental delays,
• food sensitivities or reactions,
• chronic pain,
• balance problems, vertigo,
• ‘mental’ health issues like depression, anxiety, …
• and more.

That’s quite a list! I could’ve basically said this applies to anyone that’s breathing.

All of these processes and symptoms indicate a problem in your body. Some of these cause other problems. Some are the result of a problem very often in the nervous system.

Again, the focus of functional neurology is on improving function, how your body is working and not about treating some disease.

What if I told you that the symptoms I mentioned above have something in common and that thing can wreck your life causing serious symptoms and problems that can often be helped but with very serious work by a healthcare practitioner that understands it and will require your help to improve.

Here’s what they all share, the very real potential to cause or be caused by neurological inflammation.

This one problem, neurological inflammation, explains why so many people continue suffering day after day over time even though they’ve seen many doctors and ‘tried everything.’

We’ll talk more about this important topic in another post because this one is getting a little too long!

I’ll link to the other articles about this important topic as they’re posted.