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Dr. Ali's Brain Health Course
Majid Ali, M.D.
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Living With
4th of July Brain Bioenergetics |
Seven Highly Recommended Articles
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The Age of Shrinking Brains
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Brain Aging
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The Unborn Brain
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Age of Hamlets -
Ghosts of Twisted and Tormented Souls
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Oxygen
Model of Brain Health and Diseases
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Dr. Ali’s
Brain Balance Nutrient Groups
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Dr. Ali's Brain Detox
Guidelines
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What is the Mind?
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What Is Spirituality?
Men ought
to know that from nothing else but the brain come
joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows,
griefs, despondency, and lamentations.
Hippocrates
The old Greek sage was off the
mark. But Hippocrates' hold on the minds of men of
medicine has been complete. He has not been
challenged in his assertion. I have neither nor
heard nor read any of them firmly and clearly
repudiate the Hippocratic belief expressed in the
above quote.
Human consciousness has long been
a subject of inquiry and speculation. The "consciousness
crowd" continues to vociferously champion the cause
of cosmic consciousness, far and beyond the reach of
the body organ situated in the skull. I continue to
hear psychologists and psychiatrist authoritatively pronounce
that their
patients, problem are psychological and not physical.
When I hear such claims I wonder where do they think
the body ends and the mind begins and where the mind
ends and the spirit begins. And if we accept that
mind, body, and spirit exist as an indivisable
continuum, then what might be the rational basis of
designating some problems as "physical" and others
as "psychological"?
On the other hand, the brain is generally regarded
as the most important organ in the human body. I
do not consider this to be a very enlightened view.
As roots are to roses, so the bowel to the brain. I
have used this metaphor for decades to highlight the
crucial role of the bowel in the development of the
structure and function of the brain. The
bowel-blood-liver trio largely creates the conditions in which either the
brain either develops and flourishes or suffers
serious functional handicaps. In The Canary and
Chronic Fatigue (1994), I described the cases of
brain-fogged teenagers and young adults with serious
problems of mood, memory, and mentation created by
toxicities in the bowel and the liver.
Structure of the Brain
The adult human brain weighs about 3
pounds. It is protected by skull, a bony structure
called the cranium. The brain is surrounded by and
further protected by sheets of tissue called the
meninges composed of of the following three layers:
* Pia mater – the layer closest to the surface of
the brain
* Arachnoid membrane – the middle layer of tissue
* Dura mater – the outer-most layer
The Anatomy of the Brain
The brain has a very comples structure. Following
are its major anatomical divisions:
* Cerebrum – the front of the brain
* Cerebellum – the back of the brain
* The brainstem – the middle of the brain
The cerebrum – the front of
the brain
This is the largest part of the
brain and is located in the front part of the
cranium. It has two parts: the right cerebral
hemisphere and the left cerebral hemisphere
connected with each other but separated by a deep
groove. Each hemisphere has the following major
lobes :
* Frontal lobes are involved with personality,
speech, and motor development
* Temporal lobes are responsible for memory,
language and speech functions
* Parietal lobes are involved with sensation
* Occipital lobes are the primary vision centers
The functional centers in the cerebrum regulate
the following functions:
* Touch
* Vision
* Hearing
* Movement
* Body temperature
* Judgment
* Reasoning
* Problem solving
* Emotions
* Learning
The cerebellum
The term cerebellum is dereived
from a Latin root meaning "little brain." Amazingly,
the cerebellum has a larger population of neurons
than cerebral hemispheres combined. It is primarily
a movement control part of the brain and is
responsible for:
* Voluntary muscle movements
* Fine motor skills
* Maintaining balance, posture, and equilibrium
Neurons
The human brains brain contains
15–33 billion
cells called neurons. Each neuron is connected by
delicate fibers called axons to a large number of
other neurons through structures called synapses.
Neuronal communications occur through electrical
pulses called action potentials.
Neurones are cells located in the
gray matter and are either aggregated in nuclei, in
layers as in six-layered cerebral cortex, or in
columns. Neuronal reactions to injury occur as: (1)
axonal reaction, after the axon is cut or otherwise
injured, represents a healing response characterized
by rounding and enlargement of the cell, enlargement
of the nucleus, and dispersion of the Nissl
substance; (2) acute cell necrosis (red neurone)
due to anoxia or dysoxygenosis; (3) atrophy of cells
surrounded by areas of gliosis (proliferation of the
connective tissue of the brain parenchyma); (4)
neuronal degeneration surrounded by areas of gliosis;
and (5) accumulation of oxidized and denatured
lipid, protein, and carbohydrate complexes (i.e.,
lipofuscin) indicating mild degenerative changes
associated with aging.
The Oxygen Model
of Brain Injury
The brain parenchyma is a highly
aerobic tissue and yet does not hold any oxygen
reserve. The brain draws about 15% of the resting
cardiac output and 20% of the total body consumption
of oxygen. Unlike in many other body tissues, oxygen
availability is the rate-limiting factor in brain
metabolism. For those reasons, neuronal metabolism
begins to be impaired within 8 to 10 seconds of
oxygen deficiency and irreversible damage occurs
within 6 to 8 minutes. By contrast, neuronal glucose
reserves can maintain metabolism for 30 to 60
minutes after glucose supply is turned off. Hence,
even severe hypoglycemia in most clinical situations
can be effectively managed without irreversible
neuronal injury.
Oxidative-Dysoxygenative
Perspective on Neuronal Injury and Repair
In RDA: Rats, Drug, and
Assumption (1996) I proposed a model of brain injury
that held at oxidative injury and oxygen dysfunction
as the two primary mechanisms of injury. In
Recognized that the molecular underpinnings of
all types of toxic, metabolic, ischemic,
degenerative, and infectious injuries to brain
parenchyma involve oxidative-dysoxygenative
phenomena. I draw this conclusion from the
examination of experimental and clinical
observations reported about the various
clinicopathologic entities concerning the central
nervous system. For example, the genetic locus on
chromosome 21 in familial AML appears to be the
Cu/Zn-binding superoxide dismutase. Monoamine
oxidase inhibitors are of limited benefits in the
early stages. As for the common stroke, Alzheimer's
disease, and heavy metal toxicity, the oxidative-dysoxygenative
nature of the nature is self-evident. From the
standpoint of integrative medicine, this is of
paramount importance since it means all effective
integrative therapies for brain disorders must be
sharply focused on issues of oxidosis and
dysoxygenosis
Patterns of Glial Reactions
Glia is the stroma (the
connective tissue scaffolding) of the brain
parenchyma. It includes four types of cells: (1)
astrocytes are large cells with round to ova nuclei;
(2) oligodendrocytes are smaller denser cells; (3)
ependymal cells are columnar in shape, have ciliate
borders, and line the inner surfaces of ventricles;
and (4) microglial cells that are elongated and
contain irregular nuclei.
In neuropathology and neurology
texts, glia is delegated a largely structurally
supportive role with participation in repair
reactions. In my view, such thinking is very limited
and is wholly inconsistent with the profound
regulatory roles of the matrix in other tissues.
In my view, glia asserts foundational regulatory
roles in health as well as in all pathophysiologic
phenomena affecting the brain parenchyma. Though
at this time I base my view largely on the many
established roles of matrix in other tissues. It
seems safe to predict that future research will
clearly show that to be the case.
Patterns of Neuronal
Regeneration
Until recently, the prevailing
belief in neurology was that human neuronal death
results in permanent loss of the function of those
cells. Indeed, of all the body's cells, neurones
seem least capable of repair and regeneration when
injured by neurotoxins, infectious diseases, stroke,
or degenerative disorders. A spate of recent studies
have clearly demonstrated the ability of neurones to
regenerate. Still, neurones of neocortex—the region
of the brain of greatest interest from the
standpoint of functions involving mood, memory, and
mentation—appeared not to participate in repair and
regenerative functions. Now that also is changing.
Consider the following:
"...when they induced certain neurones in
the neocortex of adult mice to
self-destruct, the loss triggered the
formation of replacement neurons by brain
stem cells. What's more, the newly formed
neurones migrated to the same position as
their deceased predecessors."
In the experimental cited above,
opoptosis of neocortex cells was selectively induced
with light-activated compound. The death of
neocortical cells then triggered the multipotential
neural precursor (stem) cells located in the
subventricular zones to produce new neurons which
then traveled to find their home in the area of dead
cells and replaced them. The tracking of the new
neurons was done by labeling those cells with a
tracer chemical (5-bromodeoxyuridine). Further
experiments with a dye demonstrated that the newly
formed neocortical cells established the same
functional axon connections to thalamus as the
original cells.
Reproduced
from The New York Time of January 7, 2014
Dr. Ali's Course
on Brain Health and Diseases
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Brain Course
k Consciousness
Course
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The Age of
Shrinking Brains
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Oxygen
Model of Brain Health and Diseases
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What is the Mind?
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Dr. Ali’s
Brain Balance Nutrient Groups
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Age of Hamlets -
Ghosts of Twisted and Tormented Souls
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A Brief
History of Discovery of the Autonomic Nervous System
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Dr. Ali's Brain Detox Guidelines
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The Oxygen
Model Alzheimer's Disease
*
Zapping the Brain
Optogenetics
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Whose Brain Will Be
Zapped by Who and for What?
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Anatomy of the
Parasympathetic Nervous System
* Rising
Prevalence of Autism Spectrum
*
Stroke
* Brain
Edema
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Schizophrenia
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Schizophrenia
Treatment
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Cerebral Ischemia and Infarction
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Brain Aneurysms
* Multiple
Sclerosis (MS) and Demyelinating Diseases
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Parkinson’s
Disease
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Lou Gehrig
Disease (ALS)
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Pick's Disease
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Alzheimer’s, Oxygen,
and Tau Protein
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The Oxygen
Model Alzheimer's Disease
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Alzheimer’s, Oxygen,
and Tau Protein
*Rising
Prevalence of Autism Spectrum
* Brain
Edema
*
Cerebral Ischemia and Infarction
*
Brain Aneurysms
*
Multiple
Sclerosis (MS) and Demyelinating Diseases
*
Parkinson’s
Disease
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Pick's Disease
*
Anatomy of the
Parasympathetic Nervous System
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Octopus Not
Sticking to Themselves
Suggested Readings
1. Ali M. Darwin, oxidosis, dysoxygenosis, and
integration. J Integrative Medicine 1999;3:11-16.
2. Lasley EN. Death leads to brain neuron birth.
Science 2000;288:2111-2.
3. Magavi S, Leavit B, Macklis J. Nature June 22,
2000
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