Grain Brain and Dementia, Movement Disorders, and "Behavioral Wellness" and Mental Health. It's All Connected

St. Patrick's Day was yesterday and I had to chuckle at the information I was watching on television from the author of the current bestselling book Grain Brain, David Perlmutter, MD. His message strongly reinforces everything we've had for the five years since Lumigrate launched in March of 2009, and carries it orders of magnitude further in terms of focusing on things related to the brain and grains that have gluten in them. AND things that drive the blood sugar up and down and around. Ever heard of 'glycemic index'? He uses it, we actually preferred the similar 'glycemic load' from our formative years, which factors in the fiber in foods which changes things a great deal for some foods, such as carrots and apples. But he has really GRATE information, in my opinion! 

As I watched the show (recorded from Sunday), I wondered "How many people in the world are consuming beer with gluten in it?" (Hopefully they've gotten the memo now about artificial colorings and have nixed the traditional green beer and turning the rivers green as well, or at least made progress in that direction with less of it so someday it will be no more.) At least the traditional corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes are gluten free. However, white potatos and the effects on blood sugar will not be the be-all, end-all either.

Anymore, in the US this is another commercialized 'holiday' and I like to remind whenever possible to keep in mind about 'following the money', and following your heart and what YOU think. I'll say the same about the funding for PBS. I'm going to include, below, the information about the sponsors of the program because it's important for us to be aware of how these things 'work'. 

Sometimes I enjoy almost a 'harmonic convergence' of things that 'coincide' on my proverbial "radar screen", practically colliding in a way that makes me think of the expression "you couldn't write this stuff!" And this has just occurred. One thing was an email request from someone I provided health information concierge services to in recent years, returning with a different dilemma: In the past the issue ("case" some would say) was a person diagnosed with Lewy Body Disease (LBD), a very common but very underdiagnosed neurologic disorder, but when I got into the information provided by the person's 'team' contact/advocate (see YOU model we use at Lumigrate as our foundation concept), I suspected a misdiagnosis or a missed diagnosis. Or both. 

I've been professionally immersed in health care since 1992 and have had hundreds if not thousands of cases I've been involved with at some level or another, and this previous case was the top of the list of 'difficult' ones, and also for the book someday that will be my version of 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat'. I suspect a best seller could come from fictionalizing the whole story of this one interesting case and much could come out of it in terms of readers becoming more educated about a wide variety of things from blood sugar and diabetes to personality disorders and neurologic disorders, amidst the ashes of the 'systems' that become intertwined -- legal and medical -- causing such trauma and drama in people's lives sometimes. Very unfortunate for all involved, particularly when everyone involved was a good person, essentially. Perhaps you're hearing something in my words that resonates for you -- I hope so, keep reading and then learning. And perhaps the Lumigrate YOU model added in here will be a good visual. 

 And our hope 

The team had a good first impression of me because not only had I heard of Lewy Body Disease, which is rare among medical providers they said, but my father had recently died of it after being missed diagnosed until he was literally almost dead. The difficulties he experienced even with a medical expert on his team (me) was nothing short of staggering and likely could be another fictionalized novel some day which would offer much for readers to learn from. There was no way that what went on was 'oversight', there appeared to be clear resistance to the medical teams in the west Denver area we were dealing with NOT finding the underlying cause of his neurologic problems.

The model of his health care team by the time the 'trigger person' came along was incredible --- but thankfully a nurse said 'he looks like he has Parkinsons to me' six weeks or so into all the misdiagnosing and mistreatment (which was literally 'torturous' to the point he asked to die, yet when I asked for a hospice consult as a result of those words, I was literally treated by a room full of his team-mates as if I had not been heard. My father had resisted taking my advise about not eating wheat from the time I learned of my intolderance in 1995, but in about 2000 had severe problems come upon him and he then took someone else's advise when they said the same thing I had. I relate this mostly because I hope to underscore the importance of EACH person on the team, and how it can make all the difference to get THE RIGHT ONE added to the mix that can tip the whole thing in the 'right' direction. 

I find I am often the 'seed planter' and someone else comes along and waters it or cultivates the idea, which is great, as sometimes I'm the cultivator of someone else's seed they planted. What ultimately matters is that the people who are having problems or want to prevent problems get the information and become proactive in using the information! And it has a great deal to do with the overall team, or system surrounding a person, being 'on the same page' with 'the program', whatever that program is going to be. THAT is where the difficulty often lies and the breakdowns occur, so getting the whole team educated and on that same page is a key. 

The person / 'challenging case' I have been referring to here whose team member 'got it' what I was providing for education better than most others on the team, I thought at the time, ended up having a significant drug/alcohol history that was initially a concern and information they provided but within moments of my being in contact with the person clearly was a key clue. And due to the various factors that come along with people who abuse substances and have likely not been able to be honest about it always, I suspect nobody will ever know all the details, even if you put the whole team together, including the now deceased.

Why would I say that? Lack of insight, believing in the untrue story which was so convincingly related it was difficult to tell if the person was aware it wasn't the truth -- were they really delusional?  There were things in the mix that would be defined by conventional medicine within the personality disorders, though I was never aware of any of that type of assessment and diagnosing being made. In a magic wand world, I would have loved to have had a crysal ball or magic curtain to get behind and see what could have occurred had that complex middle aged person gone to a treatment center like the one now available in Loveland Colorado that takes a functional medicine and integrative medicine approach to alcohol and other drug addiction.

More about that at another topic titled "Addiction Recovery and Biochemical Restoration ....." which you can find in this same forum (The Head/Brain (body/mind) Psychology, neuropsychology, etc.) or for those reading this online if it's easier for you to find it, here's the link: www.lumigrate.com/forum/addiction-recovery-and-biochemical-restoration-function-and-integrative-medicine-inner-balance [1]

It wasn't a surprise to the professional who referred this team my way, nor to me, that things were as they were for this middle aged professional person, who unfortunately died/passed because of the ineffective 'gaps' and setup of 'the system' or systems currently. It is always frustrating at some level, which one can't dwell on, when you see these things occur despite each person's best attempts working within 'the systems' at hand. So it's refreshing to think there's now a member of that team remembering how I work with directing or concierging / teaching getting to valid and outside the box / cutting edge medical information as well as the conventional that works.  

They're inquiring because of someone they're inquiring about that's stemming from more their personal life than their professional / work life, they'd gotten thrown into being a medical and legal guardian / professional advocacy situation previously. This time, it's a young person, and in recent weeks and months I've heard a unanimous call to action by middle aged people or older saying 'I'm concerned and am being proactive as an 'activist' because of the children and young adults today who are inheriting the Earth from us. So, from that perspective I was very pleased to see this professional person get a hold of me for this new purpose. I wish them all the best and appreciate the enthusiasm for Lumigrate and what I offer here. 

The outward concern the adults have, apparently, has to do with substance abuse. So were they surprised when I sent them looking at information about diet and the brain? I didn't have this topic nor Dr Perlmutter and Grain Brain to refer them to, but Lumigrate has a good stock of information that should be convincing in and of itself, just with some more work to make the leaps of logic to so speak.

I also hadn't created a topic about the innovative inpatient and outpatient treatment center in the Front Range/Loveland, Colorado area because last time I'd looked at their website, it didn't have the great scoop it has now for helping people get going in the direction of how to DIY where they live in the event, like the vast majority of Lumigrate YOUsers, they're not going to be able to utilize that particular group of experts. But as you see, I have now created a topic about that (link above). Just as a person has a life and we're all works in progress, Lumigrate is as well, and often it's what I'll call 'The One' that creates the needs and then the resources to fill those needs for Lumigrate and the YOUsers.

If they've had me as an advisor before they likely aren't so surprised but they're now going to be the conduit to this young person and the family and others on his/her team.... And I have no way of knowing how familiar those people are with these kinds of concepts. Food and the brain. Food and behaviors. Food and alcohol or other drug use and abuse and possible 'addictions'. 

www.youtube.com/watch [6]