Repeated head-jarring concussions suffered by athletes involved in contact sports can lead to severe mental problems, including dementia, that surface years after the initial injuries. Until now, no one knew exactly what happened in the brain that led to such devastating results, but a ground-breaking study by Newsmax health contributor Dr. Russell Blaylock and Dr. Joseph Maroon, team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, provides answers that can help not just professional athletes, but weekend warriors and juvenile athletes as well. Their research was published in the journal Surgical Neurology International.
Doctors Blaylock and Maroon studied changes in the brains of athletes who had suffered repeated concussions. "They developed changes in their brains that looked like Alzheimer's disease," says Dr. Blaylock. "They developed dementia, depression, suicidal tendencies, insomnia, and headaches.
Repeated head-jarring concussions suffered by athletes involved in contact sports can lead to severe mental problems, including dementia, that surface years after the initial injuries. Until now, no one knew exactly what happened in the brain that led to such devastating results, but a ground-breaking study by health contributor Dr. Russell Blaylock and Dr. Joseph Maroon, team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, provides answers that can help not just professional athletes, but weekend warriors and juvenile athletes as well. Their research was published in the journal Surgical Neurology International.
Doctors Blaylock and Maroon studied changes in the brains of athletes who had suffered repeated concussions. "They developed changes in their brains that looked like Alzheimer's disease," says Dr. Blaylock. "They developed dementia, depression, suicidal tendencies, insomnia, and headaches.
"We knew this progressive process was taking place in the brain, but the mystery was why the process continued and the brain continued to deteriorate years after the player retired."
The changes in the brain were specific, but no one understood why they occurred. Then Dr. Blaylock looked at research being done in the areas of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and came up with a theory: The process of traumatic brain injury involved an interaction between brain inflammation and excitotoxicity that triggers the death of brain cells over a period of time.
The theory explains why some players develop neurological problems years following their injuries and others do not: Some players have pre-existing conditions that make them susceptible. "People who have latent conditions in their brains — a herpes simplex virus, an old scar from a previous injury, or previous toxic metal accumulation — develop progressive degeneration."
The good news, says Dr. Blaylock, is there are many things you can do to prevent damage, both to yourself and to young athletes who play football and other contact sports. "There's a lot we can do since we have a handle on the mechanism," he says.
Staving off damage from such life-changing brain impairment may be as simple as making changes in your diet and taking a few supplements, according to Dr. Blaylock. Use these tips to protect yourself and your family:
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially vegetables, contain powerful brain protectors called flavonoids.
• Drink white tea. Several glasses of white tea each day will reduce inflammation.
• Avoid sugar and oils. Sugar and oils — such as canola, peanut, and soybean — are pro-inflammatory.
• Shun processed foods. Most processed foods are high in glutamate and excitotoxins. Common additives include monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrolyzed protein, and other pro-inflammatory additives. "They're brain toxins and they worsen damage," says Dr. Blaylock.
• Drink pure water. Make sure your water doesn't contain fluoride. "It's a powerful brain toxin," says Dr. Blaylock.
• Supplement. "Certain supplements seem to play a big role in calming brain inflammation and preventing excitotoxicity from ever occurring," says Dr. Blaylock. Magnesium is a major player. "Most people are severely deficient in magnesium, and the more you are deficient, the more prone you are to brain injury and to degenerative brain disease," he says. Dr. Blaylock recommends 500 mg of magnesium citrate/malate twice a day. Other helpful supplements include curcumin, quercetin, green tea extract, vitamins C and E in combination, milk thistle, and silymarin.
According to Dr. Blaylock, the research results that could help hundreds of thousands of athletes avoid brain damage could also help protect millions of people from the devastating effects of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
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