Troy Patterson: Founder of Nature's Purest Spring Water fulfilling his dream of bringing pure water to the rest of the world, 1996.

WHERE HAS ALL THE WATER GONE?

You can forget about oil.

Water is the world’s most precious commodity—and it’s getting harder to find.

† In 1992 the United Nations designated March 22, World Water Day, to emphasize the ever increasing scarcity of safe water.

Good water is synonymous with good health—and worldwide for a billion people, it’s nearly impossible to find.

Each year 5 million people die of water related diseases, and every day women and children spend countless hours collecting polluted water from distant sources.

Here in America,  our tap water is contaminated with 141 unregulated chemicals, some that are well known neurotoxins.

WATER IS LIFE

While water is the most basic element on earth, it is also the least understood—just ask Dr. Emoto.

This much we know for certain:

• 70% of our overall body weight is water
• 80% of the composition of the brain is water (and)
• CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) the clear, colorless liquid of life we bathe our brains in daily is 99% water!

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW

From a neuroanatomical perspective, having the brain and spinal cord suspended in watery medium makes good sense by buffering the brain from a sudden blow to the head.

As an added bonus,  the net weight of the brain is reduced from 1400 to 50 grams, increasing buoyancy and reducing pressure at the base of the brain.

It’s the neurophysiology however that makes it much more interesting.

CSF is what we bathe our brains in daily.

Just as spring water flows spontaneously from a deep granite aquifer, a vascular structure found deep within the ventricles of the brain produces the 150 ml of CSF needed each day to both transport helpful hormones and remove potential toxins from the brain.

But what if the source water is contaminated?

What if the water we drink daily is unsafe and we spend a lifetime consuming it—what then?

While the blood-brain barrier provides a measure of protection, it is NOT impenetrable.  Neurotoxins make their way to our brains daily, with little resistance.

When was the last time you enjoyed microwavable popcorn or had pizza delivered to your home?

Blood levels of perfluorinated chemicals (a known neurotoxicant) found in Teflon products, Stain-Resistant carpet, the inside lining of microwavable popcorn bags and yes even pizza box liners, are on the rise.

There is ample evidence identifying lead, methylmercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as neurotoxic agents.  The “Great” Lakes are not so great anymore.

In a recent French study conducted over 8 years, high aluminum levels in drinking water (?0.1 mg/l) were associated with an elevated risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. This result was highly significant despite the low number of subjects exposed to such levels.  In contrast, high silica levels (? 11.25 mg/l) found in the same source water, were associated with a lower risk of dementia and AD.

World Water Day: Clean Water For A Healthy World

WHAT TO DO?

Only one percent of the water on earth is fresh water.

We continue to contaminate that 1% at an alarming rate.

For your brain’s sake, find a †reliable source of safe water.

Keep your exposure to other environmental toxins to a minimum.

Remember, in the world of neurotoxicology, exposure times a lifetime equals Parkinson’s  disease or Alzheimer’s or any one of numerous other neurodegenerative disorders.

† Nature’s Purest Spring Water comes from the deep granite aquifers of the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains.

† By coincidence Brain Awareness Weeks begins March 15-22!

This is a post from The Neuroprotective Lifestyle by Kerry Friesen, M.D.

March 22, 2010—World Water Day: What Are You Bathing Your Brain In?

In 1966, Lew Welch created this incredibly tenacious tagline that continues to swirl within everyone’s subconscious!

RAID, KILLS BUGS DEAD!

A more liberal interpretation today might read:

“RAID, Kills Brain Cells Dead!”

That may be more macabre than you were counting on, but nevertheless consistent with a new paradigm emerging from basic research in a relatively new discipline—molecular neurotoxicology.

What am I saying?

CHEMICALLY INDUCED CHANGES IN GENE REGULATION

It appears that subtle gene-environment interactions have a far greater impact on neurochemical and neurobehavioral processes than originally thought.

Could it be that environmental toxins—the countless chemical cocktails, pesticides, plastics, industrial pollutants, heavy metals, brominated flame retardants, bisphenols and a whole host of antiandrogenic, thyroid disrupting and estrogenic chemicals are responsible for the explosion in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s Disease seen today?  

Basic science research and epidemiological studies conducted over the last 10 years suggests that it is.  

The more sinister problem however, may be the mechanism responsible for the neurotoxicity.  

EPIGENETICS AND THE “NEW” YOU

Chemically induced changes in gene regulation are caused by methylation of DNA.  Adding methyl groups to your DNA  where it doesn’t belong leads to chromatin remodeling. Remodeling is great for houses—bad for DNA. Especially if it permanently changes your genetic blueprint in a way that predisposes you to everything from ALS to Parkinson’s Disease.

Stranger yet, these “epigenetic” changes do not alter the actual DNA but may still be “transgenerational”, in other words, capable of being passed on from one generation to the next!

THE BIRDS THE BEES AND BIOMAGNIFICATION

Biomagnification is a big, big problem—pun, intended.

The bioamplification of persistent organic pollutants, (POP’s) is a result of their fat soluble nature. Fat soluble substances, cannot be excreted in urine and currently mammals do not possess the enzymes systems required to degrade them. As a result, fatty tissue becomes a convenient place to isolate these highly toxic substances.

Do not be fooled by so-called “safe” pesticides. A recent study revealed that adverse reactions to “safe” pesticides increased by 300% over the last 10 years and now account for 26% of all serious reactions .

The following, “dirty-dozen” should be avoided at all cost:

aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) group, dioxins and furans

Rotenone is great example of a fat soluble, relatively well known “safe” or botanical pesticide.

Rats given an intraperitoneal injection over a period of 2 months developed symptoms consistent with Parkinson’s Disease. When the animals were sacrificed, widespread degeneration of dopaminergic neurons resembling the brains of Parkinson’s patients was noted. The greater the dose and exposure, the greater the damage.

While this may not represent sufficient proof of causation for some–when combined with other epidemiologic studies, the tide is clearly turning.

Joni Mitchell couldn’t haven been more right!

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now,
Give me spots on my apples,
But leave me the birds and the bees….
Please!

Joni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi”

Next time, “Does Gray Matter Matter?”

References:

Can Endocrine Disruptors Influence Neuroplasticity In The Aging Brain?
Neurotoxicology. 2007 September; 28(5): 938–950.

Ann Neurol. 2005 Jul;58(1):31-40.
Possibility for neurogenesis in substantia nigra of parkinsonian brain.

Brain Res. 2008 Mar 27;1201:122-7.
Behavioral alterations in rotenone model of Parkinson’s disease: attenuation by co-treatment of centrophenoxine.

Neurochem Int. 2006 Jul;49(1):28-40.
L-deprenyl protects against rotenone-induced, oxidative stress-mediated dopaminergic neurodegeneration in rats.

This is a post from The Neuroprotective Lifestyle by Kerry Friesen, M.D.

Pesticides, Plastic And Permanent Neurotoxicity: The Path To Parkinson’s Disease

So here’s the deal, medication has its place, but this one belongs on your face – NOT in your body!

photo credit: Syma Sees

Suicide and the depression that precipitates it, is common in North America. Common enough to be the third leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 24.

Acne unfortunately, especially the nodulocystic form that can lead to scarring, is also very common in that same age group. Accutane® or 13-cis-retinoic acid (RA),is considered the “drug of choice” for cystic acne and is effective in 90% of cases.

In one 13 year time period (1989-2003), 72 of 216 documented teen suicides were unequivocally linked to Accutane®. The next highest number of suicides in that time period — 55 — involved Prozac® (fluoxetine).

Accutane® and all fat soluble derivatives of vitamin A, have a long history of causing serious side-effects. Hypervitaminosis A (vitamin A toxicity), from eating polar bear liver has always been a part of the oral tradition of the Inuit people. In 1597 European explorers of Nova Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, died after eating both polar bear liver and the livers of their sled animals. Acute vitamin A toxicity can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and hair loss. Desquamation (shedding of skin), liver toxicity and birth defects round out the list of known toxicities.

While today virtually no one is in danger of vitamin A toxicity from eating polar bear liver, Accutane® continues to be Roche Pharmaceutical’s number one selling drug. And while doctors have known for years about the common toxicities, what is not known is the effect 13-cis-retinoic acid has on the adult and adolescent brain.

Accutane’s affinity for the CNS and its history of causing serious birth defects may hold the key.

Areas of the brain that continue to generate new neurons are especially susceptible to the teratogenic effects of Accutane. In one study clinical doses of Accutane (1mg/kg/day) fed to adult mice significantly reduced neurogenesis in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system in the brain and along with the amygdala helps regulate emotion and behavior.

In another study, 28 acne patients underwent positron emission tomography (PET) and MRI scanning before and after 4 months of treatment with either an antibiotic or Accutane®. Neither group suffered from depression at the beginning of the study. After 4 weeks, PET scans were able to detect a decrease in metabolism in orbitofrontal cortex of the Accutane® group but not the antibiotic group.

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), is also considered part of the limbic system and communicates directly with the thalamus and indirectly with the hippocampus. In previous neuroimaging studies of untreated depressed patients, the OFC actually shrinks in volume overtime and reflects the severity of the depression.

This may be a good time to point out that while no study to date has shown definitively that Accutane causes suicide, the association continues to be strengthened rather than weakened with each study performed.

I also want to point out that the FDA website carries a strongly worded warning (see boxed warning below), regarding the psychiatric side-effects of Accutane®

As a final word, Accutane® and now three other medications† have recently been linked to linked to serious psychiatric side-effects. To date, none have been withdrawn from the market.

If you are dealing with mild to moderate acne, Accutane® should not be a treatment consideration – especially if a family history of depression exists. Alternatives exist for moderate acne and combination therapy may be best for severe nodulocystic acne, making 13-cis-retinoic acid a literal last resort.

†Chantix, Singulair, Tamiflu

This is a post from The Neuroprotective Lifestyle by Kerry Friesen, M.D.

Your Brain On Accutane®