July 22, 2024 • 31 mins
Unlock the secrets behind your child's hyperactivity or inattention as we welcome Dr. Ruan, CEO of the Texas Center for Lifestyle Medicine, on this eye-opening episode of Brain Power with Dr. Eko. Could chronic mouth breathing or sleep apnea be masquerading as ADHD in your adolescent? Dr. Ruan sheds light on the skull-brain connection, revealing how sleep disorders might be at the root of behaviors often misdiagnosed as ADHD or ADD. He guides us through the "five whys" approach, encouraging parents to look beyond the symptoms and address the underlying causes that affect their child's brain function and overall well-being.
Do you know how crucial your oral health is to your brain function? According to Dr. Ruan, the trigeminal nerve plays a vital role in managing stress and emotional responses, and improper bite alignment can lead to cognitive impairments. We delve into the impact of COVID-19 on neurological and psychiatric symptoms, demonstrating the importance of seeking professionals knowledgeable in physiologic dental medicine and sleep education. Dr. Ruan recommends invaluable resources like the American Association of Physiologic Dental Medicine (AAPMD) and the Sleep Education Consortium (SEC) for those needing further guidance.
Finally, we explore the profound effects of diet and hydration on children's behavior and health. Dr. Ruan discusses how processed foods, sugars, and inadequate hydration can lead to increased mucus production and behavioral issues, offering practical tips to reduce processed food intake and ensure proper hydration. We wrap up the episode with a heartfelt message on parenting with grace, emphasizing that self-love and open communication are key to nurturing our children effectively. Tune in to uncover these vital insights and empower yourself with the knowledge to support your child's health and well-being.
Connect with Dr. Ruan!
Instagram: cheng_ruan_md / txlifemed
Website: www.texascenterforlifestylemedicine.org
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform and check out the video version on our YouTube channel!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:00):
Hello everyone.
Welcome to another episode ofBrain Power with Dr Eko, where
today I have another amazingguest to bring on and we're
going to have an amazingdiscussion today.
So I'd like to introduce to youDr Ruan, who is the CEO of
Texas Center for LifestyleMedicine and was the host of the
(00:20):
Reverse Brain Disorder Summiton Dr Tok's platform.
So welcome Dr Ruan to the show.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (00:27):
Hey, thanks for having me.
I'm super excited to talk aboutwhat we're going to get into.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:31):
Yeah, thank you for coming on.
So can you please introduceyourself even further, Because
that was a really briefintroduction and I know there's
so much more that you do?
Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (00:43):
So at Texas Center for Lifestyle Medicine,
we create programs for peoplewho really want to discover the
root cause of disease, in groupsand individual programs, and a
big part of what we do iscollaborative medicine, which
means we want to collaboratewith other people and other
healthcare professionals ondiscovery for causes.
In fact, that's where we'rewhere I'm coming all of you
(01:05):
today and also get it out thereright.
I think it's important to sharethe data and also, like I'm
always learning and I mean thelast three years, I've really
learned a lot, especially aboutbrain health, add, adhd, et
cetera that I really want toshare and bring to the world.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (01:26):
Wonderful, and I've been a recipient of your
wonderful knowledge that you'regaining, so I am thankful for
you as well.
So let's dive into it.
Today we're going to be talkingabout the connection between
the airway and ADHD ADDspecifically in adolescence.
So, Dr Ruan, would you like totell us what that connection is?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (01:50):
Yeah, I kind of coined this term skull-brain
connection and it's sort of anew concept.
That is not new, meaning thatit was kind of lost.
It looked like a loss eversince we really got into
modernizing medicine.
But we really have to talkabout the concept of brain
(02:12):
health.
So let me just kind of bringthis into existence real quick.
And the view, the way I viewdisease is not like disease.
The way I view disease is thatwhatever's happening is a
compensation of something else.
We're always compensated forsomething else.
In order for us to survive,that compensation mechanism has
(02:32):
to kick in and that createsdisease and that also creates
disorder.
And when we think aboutattention deficit disorder,
activity disorder, we're lookingat why is the brain
compensating and what's itcompensating for?
And so and in fact the answeris quite simple, because if you
actually look at the behavioralpattern in ADD and ADHD, our
(02:58):
brain is actually trying to stayawake and attentive because
perhaps it's having a hard timedoing so.
So in the world of neurology wethe concept in neurology of ADD
and ADHD is that it could bepotentially secondary to
something else, and the mostcommon is sleep disorders, such
(03:20):
as sleep apnea, or in kids andadolescents, sometimes it is
sleep apnea or sometimes it'ssleep disorder breathing chronic
mouth breathing that creates anecosystem during sleep where
we're not really able to getinto deep sleep.
So during the day our braincompensates by going to this
(03:43):
mode called hypersomnia orhyposomalance, where the brain
wants to take a little micromicro-naps, right?
Well, in Kim's adolescence itbecomes hyperactivity.
In adults we call that fatigueor brain fog, right, memory
issues, etc.
So the nomenclature is a bitdifferent depending on what
(04:06):
stage.
And the question is well, why isit so common these days?
And I think that's what we getinto, because that's where we
look at data, looking at humanskull formations over the last
couple hundred years, right,that's where we look at data of
what else are we really seeingthat's coexisting with ADD and
(04:29):
ADHD.
Why is there so much moreallergies and chronic sinusitis?
Why is there so much moredental issues, right?
Why are there so much morewisdom teeth being removed these
days, whereas before wisdomteeth coming in not an issue?
So these are some aspects thatI think have been lost for some
time in understanding thesedisorders.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (04:50):
Okay, so thank you for that summary, but then
that creates a whole host ofquestions.
We need answers to Something Iwanted to point out for parents
listening Instead of asking thequestion like what's wrong with
my child, right.
Listening Instead of asking thequestion like what's wrong with
my child, right?
Dr Ruan just said your child'sbrain is trying to take naps
during the day, and what it willmanifest as is hyperactivity.
(05:14):
So it's not that your child iswillfully trying to misbehave
and not listen to the teacher.
Your child's brain is trying tocompensate for what it's
missing.
So it's so important for us allto realize that and then start
asking the right questions.
Right?
How can we help our childrensleep better and so that their
(05:36):
brain function better in thedaytime, dr?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (05:39):
David Lamont Wilson-, absolutely, and there's
an approach in root causeanalysis and engineering called
the five whys.
Approach the five whys, the W-H, and engineering called the
five whys.
Approach the five whys, theW-H-Y.
The five whys approach issimply asking why five times?
So let's start.
My child is having inattention,okay.
Or a diagnosis of the energydeficit, right, the why is the
(06:06):
brain compensating?
That's the real first question.
Why is the brain compensatingby exhibiting inattention?
And so the first answer isperhaps sleep quality is not
very good the night before, okay.
Second, why?
Well, why wasn't sleep qualitythat was very good the night
before?
(06:26):
Well, perhaps maybe there's toomuch screen time last night
late into the night, maybethere's too much roblox or or
minecraft, whatever they'redoing these days right.
Or perhaps maybe they ate toolate.
Maybe they're in sports campand they came home at 9 30.
They ate too late and eatingtoo late disrupts sleep, which
can affect them within food.
(06:47):
Perhaps is because the thingsthat they actually eat right and
you know, for the kids outthere, I hate to hate on
Chick-fil-A, but I'm going tofor a second the amount of MSG
in there creates aneuro-excitatory pathway that
really inlays deep sleep, whichis quite so, so addictive as
(07:07):
well.
If you eat that too late at theend, you know.
Once again, I'm sorry parents,I have to hit on Chick-fil-A for
just a second, and then anotherquestion is okay, are there
other reasons that we don't knowabout that?
The sleep could be disrupted.
Well, look at your child'ssleep.
Sometimes their neck could behyper arched, meaning that their
(07:31):
neck is kind of thrownbackwards.
Sometimes they're in differentpositions.
Well, why is that?
Cause they're trying to breatheat nighttime.
Maybe they can't, maybe theirpalate aren't fully expanded, or
maybe they have hereditarytibetaner issues.
Right, perhaps in some parentsa lot of children are born with
(07:53):
like dystonia or torticollis.
That could be its own mechanismto trying to get the airway to
improve as well.
Right, and you hear your childgrinding their teeth at night.
Well, that's the case.
That's a big issue, becausegrinding, the medical term is
called bruxism.
So bruxism is there to try totent open the soft tissues in
(08:14):
the mouth, to tent open theairway, to try to get enough
bleeding as well.
And, by the way, I'm intimatelyfamiliar with this with my
three children, with my threedaughters, so you're not alone.
Perhaps, maybe there's somebedwetting, perhaps there are
issues where the child hasnightmares, product nightmares,
(08:36):
sleepwalking, sleeptalking.
Once again, I've been throughall this as a parent, and so
these are signs and hallmarks ofsomething disrupting in the
fleet right.
And so the second why is afteractually very broad, but we
really have to ask all thesequestions.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (08:56):
Right.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (08:57):
And so let's say , for example, that we know
there's something that's causingthe child or the adolescent not
to sleep very well.
There's a third why?
So let's play this game for asecond.
Let's say the second.
Why is too much screen time?
Okay, how many parentsexperience kids with too much
screen time?
Pretty much all of us, right,right?
(09:20):
Well, why does the child evenwant to have so much screen time
in the nighttime?
Is it because they can formrelationships online?
Is it because that's Y and Z?
Well, maybe, or perhaps thehyper-stimulation of pixelated
light from the screen feeds thechild's dopamine pathways, the
(09:42):
addictive pathways in the brainthat gets hyper-accepted to it.
Because the night before theyalso didn't sleep very well
either.
Okay, so, if you think about it,let's take it back into ancient
civilization.
If our brains were to comeunder stress, right, and we deal
with it and we don't sleepthroughout the night because
(10:04):
maybe there's a war.
This is part of our survivalmechanism.
The next night, our brains areactually triggered, so our eyes
focus on objects and things thatare moving, because there may
be a war, right, and so overtime, our brains really develop
this response.
But instead is no war, it's aniPad or some stuff there.
(10:25):
Hey so now, if your child alsohas issues with sleep and
branding and stuff like that,then that's another war.
The child is battling, isflea-reported, breathing, right,
and that will also createdopamine mechanisms to occur
within the brain.
And when your brain is ondopamine and it can't activate
(10:47):
that serotonin, serotonin willhave a nice calm docus
neurotransmitter right, anddopamine is sort of that
go-go-go excitatory state, thathyperactivity that you see in
kids, right, and so these arethings to really think about.
So that's the third why.
And the fourth why is well, whyis it?
(11:07):
Why is it that a lot of people,a lot of kids, now have sleep
disorder, breathing or airwayimpairments or grinding?
It's because the human skullshave changed over time, the
human anatomy has changed overtime.
So you know, we're in theeighth generation of humans
right now.
That started fromindustrialized world, you know,
(11:30):
and our accessibility to softerfoods and low processed foods
are more and more and more and,epigenetically speaking, meaning
that things that surround thehuman nature in terms of
genetics, we're transferring asmaller jaw, we're transferring
to these smaller palates as well.
On top of that, what happened60, 70 years ago is a fear.
(11:52):
This fear is called the chokinghazard, meaning that a lot of
parents are introducing thechild to solid foods way later
in life than previously as well.
So there's not much chance forthe palate to really fully
expand and grow and develop,which is why there's not enough
real estate for the teeth toreally grow in in the mastilla
(12:14):
and the mandible, the top partor the jaw and the bottom part,
and therefore there's routing,there's overlapping, there's
something called crossbite right, and potentially overbite, and
some underbites as well could becausing an issue where the
brain is sensing that the teethdon't quite fully merge and meet
together.
Right, all right.
(12:36):
And then here comes the fifth.
Why the fifth?
Why was okay?
Well, now that we know that thebrain are changing, because of
the gall shape, that's changing.
Well, why would it affectattention?
Going back into ADD, well, it'ssimple.
So we have an amazing amount ofneural networks within our
brain and these neural networksgo everywhere.
(12:57):
One of them goes from thebrainstem, which is the bottom
part of the brain, past the jaw,right here next to the TMJ, and
it sends multiple branches outand it's called the trigeminal
nerve.
And the trigeminal nerve sendsa branch to the temples, sends a
branch to the maxilla, thesinuses, but also sends branches
(13:18):
to your teeth.
So there's maxillary branchesof these nerves and mandibular
branches of these nerves.
Well, believe it or not,there's so much sensory
information that these nervesare actually going back to the
brain, to the hypothalamus.
Now, what is it sensing?
It's sensing bite force, okay,and so what happens is, well,
(13:42):
what happens when somethingmakes you angry, grit your teeth
, right?
Well, that's no accident, it'sbecause it's sensing that the
bite force right here, the gritof the teeth, allows the body to
go into this fight or flightmechanism, you know, and I call
it the roly-poly mode, where you, like your body, starts feeling
(14:03):
really tense, right, and youkind of roll into a little ball
of anger, or maybe even ball ofexcitement, because the brain
can't tell the differencebetween excitement and anger.
When that happens, it's onlysupposed to happen for a certain
amount of time and for acertain amount of intensity,
because if it happens for toolong or too intense, our body
(14:24):
naturally has a cognitivemechanism.
Well, how does the body knowthat Through the teeth?
So what happens is there isthis reflexive body called the
TCR, the trigeminal cardiacreflex.
Where these branches to theteeth, the trigeminal cardiac
reflex, where these branches tothe teeth of the trigeminal
nerve, okay, goes to the brainand says hey, we can either be
(14:44):
calm or not be calm.
And so if the teeth don't quitemeet together, then the brain
has a hard time calming downbecause it does not get that
signal to hey, I'm safe, I'msafe, I'm safe it gets what
happens.
Inattention happens, right,hyperactivity happens as well.
So the parents listening tothis Now we have a lot of
(15:06):
teenagers like within ourpractice that a lot of times we
ask the parents when did a lotof these behaviors start?
And it usually starts whenthere's sort of a need for, like
, orthodontic work.
It's around them like the sametime, right, and that's really
no, no, acid, neither right.
So, taking the five wiseapproach, we now just looked at
(15:27):
um, a neurological patternthat's rooted to our, our teeth
and other parts of our skull,our sinuses, that's trying to
sense, to give our brain a senseof calm.
Okay, now here's another thingthat I learned during COVID,
because coronavirus, when you'reexposed to coronavirus, a lot
(15:52):
of people exhibit quote-unquoteneurological symptoms and
psychiatric symptoms Anxiety,insomnia, etc.
Etc.
Right, well, those samebranches of the nerve goes back
to the trigeminal nerve andfeeds back to the brain and the
sinus says the same thing.
Hey, there's something going onhere, don't create a con, okay,
and the coronavirus has littledifferent spikes on the outside,
(16:16):
so that spike protein goes intothe mucous membranes within the
sinuses and it can relieve thisgiant inflammatory cascade.
Well, that's also going on inthe mouth when the teeth are
able to bite together, but thatalso goes down in the mouth when
(16:36):
your child also has periodontaldisease, cavities, gingivitis,
etc.
So our sinus and our oralhealth is extraordinarily
important for the brain.
Right Now, in younger people wedo call it ADD, add, add, add,
and in older people we call itother things Brain fog, fatigue,
(16:56):
mild cognitive impairment,which later on leads to dementia
, right, and so we really haveto put the big picture together
for everyone listening to this.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (17:07):
Wow, that's amazing.
It's so interesting howeverything, every single thing
in the body is connected Right.
It's so interesting howeverything, every single thing
in the body is connected right,and so that's why it's so
important to look at the rootcause versus just the symptoms.
No-transcript.
Wow, this is amazing.
So what would you recommendparents do?
(17:33):
Okay, so they've heard this andso, yes, their child is
grinding their teeth, theirchild has ADD, their child the
dentist says take out the wisdomteeth.
What should a parent do, orwhat kinds of questions should
they be asking, or what kinds ofprofessionals should they be
looking for to take care oftheir child's symptoms?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (17:53):
Yeah, you know, I have an organization called
the Physician TransformationInstitute, so we actually teach
dentists and doctors about stufflike this, and one of the
webinars I had is the dentist'srole in brain health right?
Is the dentist role in brainhealth right?
And what's really interestingis that most dentists don't
(18:13):
understand a lot of the conceptsI just talked about.
Neither do most of the doctorsout there, but there's some that
do right.
And there is an associationcalled the AAPMD, the American
Association of PhysiologicDental Medicine.
The AAPMD is an extraordinaryorganization where they discuss
(18:36):
these things.
It's really the meeting betweenpeople who are stressful for
oral health and dental healthand everyone else right.
And there's anotherorganization called the SEC, the
Sleep Education Consortiumeveryone else right.
And there's anotherorganization called the SEC, the
Split Educational Consortium.
That's founded by my friend, drGerald Simmons about 20 years
(18:57):
ago and he is a triple-borecertified neurologist and, in
fact, people listening to this.
I did an entire podcast withhim.
You can find it on YouTube.
If you just search on YouTubethe skull brain connection, it's
usually the first one that popsup.
Between me and Dr Siggins, wereally deep dive into this, and
(19:18):
so I think it's important totalk to healthcare professionals
who kind of understand it andtalk to dentists who understand
this, usually through theAAPMD's organization.
There are other organizationsthat are out there as well.
There's actually tons ofeducation on this now, really
over the last seven to eightyears, that we can actually find
(19:40):
, and there's a great bookcalled Breath by James Nestor.
It's a bright yellow book ifyou want to look on Amazon.
But what about the medicalprofessionals that you talked
about?
Right, I think it's importantto work with dentists who are
trained in airway dentistry, whodo treat lead apnea, especially
in pediatrics.
There's also pediatricchiropractors who actually work
(20:06):
on improving their airway foryour kids and releasing a lot of
the tension that's within theneck to help the child breed as
well.
So it's really an amazingconsortium of professionals and
all really have to collaboratetogether to do all this right.
And you know, and the thing islike we don't want to take away
(20:27):
some of the other stuff that youcan do at home, which is making
sure the diet is good, makingsure there's not too much
processed foods, et cetera, etcetera.
Those are all extraordinarilyimportant things because they do
affect your breathing and yourairway and, if you think about
it a lot of times children andadolescents eat things and then
(20:49):
they get a little snotty, right,they start having, they start
having mucus come out their nose, like literally snotty, a lot
of snot coming out their noseRight and and the term snotty
has the double meaning becausesnotty also means someone who's
not behaving or aggressive orsomething like that right, but
where did it came from?
It came from the fact that thesinuses become so congested that
(21:11):
they can activate themechanisms within the brain that
create that serotonin, the calmneuro-pansion, their dopamine
dependent in their brain, andall of a sudden their behavior
changes.
So snotty in the nose equalssnotty children, sometimes Right
and snotty adults too.
You know, right now I'm acongester.
If they got sick it's fromdaycare.
(21:33):
But yeah, you don't feel goodwhenever your son is congested,
and neither do children.
So if they're eating foods andeating things that can create
mucus, then those are things toreally pay attention to.
You know, and that's what I dowith my kid, my two-year-old is
becoming really like snotty.
(21:55):
I have a lot of mucus in thenose and is coughing a bit.
Well, I go to hey, what's goingon.
You know, what did my child eat, or what do we really do, and
those are things to payattention to as well.
It all goes back into attentionand patient death right.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (22:13):
So what are some examples of foods that parents
can can watch out for that causemucus?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (22:20):
oh gosh, yeah, so this is a good question.
So what I want people tounderstand when I, when I list
some of these things, is this isnot universal.
It's really.
You really have to see howpeople respond.
You know I don't do a whole lotof pediatric, I do mostly adult
medicine, so but it's the same.
My same recommendation for foradults as well, is the first
(22:41):
thing, that it's the mostimportant, is processed food.
I think processed food I'mlooking at you Cheetos these
actually were designed for anaddictive response in the brain.
There's also a lot of MSG andsome other components that are
in there and they can be gettingyour child to a bit different
(23:02):
behaviors.
Okay, and when sometimes yourchild is exhibiting these
behaviors, they got a runny noseas well.
That's a big indication.
That's there.
So processed foods, I think, isreally important, and this
actually goes into processedmeats as well, by the way.
So sometimes you'll notice that, let's say, the child's eating
(23:25):
a hot dog or a sausage and theystart having a big runny nose
for a couple of days.
Right, that's a big indication.
But then if they eatnon-processed meats whether it's
beef or chicken, whatever it isright If you don't find that
that's a huge indication as well.
So don't think that processedmeats are kind of outside of
this category.
So that's by far the biggestnumber one.
(23:45):
Number two is actually a lackof water.
That's by far the biggestnumber one.
Number two is actually a lackof water.
So dehydration is probably themost common trigger for
behavioral issues andinattention in adults and in
children.
So when the kids want water,they'll tell you they want water
and make sure you give themwater.
(24:06):
So what's not in the categoryof water is like sodas and stuff
like that, because that canalso trigger attention as well.
A lot of parents are what aboutjuice?
You know?
So I would definitely.
You know, my kids are goodenough to know that whenever
they get a juice, they, they,they enjoy it, but they dilute
it like themselves, right, likedaddy, bring me some waters,
(24:27):
because this is juice, and sothey've been kind of trying to
do that.
But they also don't like a lotof the overstimulating sweets
and they're not necessarily usedto it, and so you are having
one out there and having juiceand stuff like that which is
diluted.
Now there's some juices thatcome like not very sweet anyways
, that are out there which youcan get, but you gotta, you
(24:49):
gotta pay attention to, to, tothe reaction to the behaviors,
what their body's doing, theirstudy stuff like that, right.
And another category, and it'sit's processed sugars, and when
I say processed sugars I meanthings that are, you know, beige
in color and white and stufflike that, right.
(25:10):
And so natural sugars, such asthe things that are found in
fruit, is actually quite amazing, because there's polyphenols,
which are basically plant-basedcompounds that actually do help
the brain, right.
And so processed sugars we wantto be really aware of.
And then my last category issugar substitutes.
I'm not a fan of sugarsubstitutes because there's huge
(25:31):
behavioral implications insugar substitutes as well, with
the exception of natural sugarsubstitutes, such as stevia is
okay, and I just forgot what theother one is Monk fruit is okay
as well, and so these are morenatural things that are out
there, but a lot of thesaccharides, a lot of the other
major process sugar substitutesthat are chemically made have a
(25:55):
huge detrimental effect on brainfunction.
In fact, it actually has beenshown to accentuate pain,
meaning a small amount of painstimulus that the brain can
actually say hey, this is morethan what I'm used to was.
The brain can actually say, hey, this is more than what I'm
used to.
So that's called painsensitization.
And we also know that sugarsubstitutes dramatically
(26:16):
decrease sleep quality as well.
So those are some of the thingsto pay attention to.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (26:20):
Yes, you're absolutely right.
I had a little four-year-old.
I found that was drinkingchocolate milk in the middle of
the night and I told him stopand voila, he sleeps now amazing
, and his behavior improved thenext day yeah, yeah, well, and
that's that's the thing aboutmilk too, because milk is not
just sugars.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (26:40):
There's there's casein in there and some people
you know they're not lactoseintolerant but they react to
casein.
And there's a protein in milkcalled caseomorphone.
It got its name from the wordmorphine because it has a very
similar effect on the brain, andso for some people, drinking
milk before bedtime has amorphine-like effect and so
(27:05):
that's a genetic predispositionthat's there.
That is not great for the brain, and so you don't run into a
bit more phenolic effects priorto bed, and so if your child is
really wanting that glass ofmilk, that may be the actual
issue.
At that time it may beconvenient, but over a long
(27:29):
period of time it actually doessome destruction.
You just want to be careful.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (27:33):
Yes, absolutely.
So what's your take on honey?
What if it's raw honey?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (27:41):
Okay, I think it depends, because honey has
really amazing medicinalbenefits as well.
It's the only thing that canmake sure you live a jar out.
It won't expire, right?
Honey has its own naturalantimicrobials.
That actually fortifies theimmune system.
But you can overdo it withhoney, just like anything else,
I think.
Right, you got to play aroundwith it and see how your child
(28:04):
reacts, right?
Yep, I agree.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (28:05):
Wow, that's been so, so helpful how your child
reacts, right.
Yep, I agree.
Wow, that's been so, so helpfulto, even to me.
I'm thinking I have a wholepage of notes.
Yes, and that's why we'realways learning, because we want
to keep expanding our knowledgebase so we can help parents and
children be the best version ofthemselves.
(28:25):
So thank you so much, dr Ruan,for all you've shared version of
themselves.
So thank you so much, dr Ruan,for all you've shared.
Can you tell our guests or ourparents listening where they can
find you and find out moreabout, and even the
professionals that will belistening to this, where they
can find out about the programsthat you offer?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (28:41):
Yeah, so for the parents, you know I'm the CEO
of Texas Center for LifestyleMedicine.
You can search for that onGoogle and Instagram and
Facebook, et cetera.
For me, I have my own personalsocial media as well.
It's my name, so it's ChangRung.
First name is C-H-E-N-G.
Last name is R-U-A-N-M-D.
You'll find that on all my taghandles.
(29:03):
For those professionalslistening to me, send me a
message on LinkedIn.
I'm the executive director ofthe Physician Transformation
Institute, where we get doctorsto think differently and be
curious about things that areoutside of what we were taught
in school.
We also raise funds forPhysician Burke.
We're now in PhysicianDepression.
We're at an all-time high rightnow in the history of the
(29:25):
profession.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (29:26):
Thank you so much for what you do, so
thankful you could come on hereand forward to having another
one with you.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (29:34):
Yes, thank you so much and you know I'm going
to leave.
One last message for the peoplethat are listening into me
today is it's not about being100% perfect parents.
It's really not, and I say thatbecause my kids also eat some
Chick-fil-A in there, all right.
It's not about being a hundredpercent perfect.
It's about always be auditing,meaning that, observe what
(29:59):
actually happens and talk aboutwhat actually happens.
Right, um I that the more youcommunicate and educate um your
children yourself, um yoursignificant other, the family,
grandparents especially, I thinkthat's a big one, right?
The more that we talk aboutthis in an open fashion, the
better.
But it's not about being 100%perfection.
(30:21):
So, parents, give yourself somegrace, because I do.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (30:24):
Yes, me too, absolutely.
Thank you so much for that lastgem that you dropped.
So, yes, parents, like Dr Rowansays, nobody's perfect.
There's no manual forparenthood.
We just keep doing what we canevery day and showing ourselves
love, so we can definitely loveour children.
(30:45):
So have an amazing day andthank you for listening.
Hello everyone.
Welcome to another episode ofBrain Power with Dr Eko, where
today I have another amazingguest to bring on and we're
going to have an amazingdiscussion today.
So I'd like to introduce to youDr Ruan, who is the CEO of
Texas Center for LifestyleMedicine and was the host of the
(00:20):
Reverse Brain Disorder Summiton Dr Tok's platform.
So welcome Dr Ruan to the show.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (00:27):
Hey, thanks for having me.
I'm super excited to talk aboutwhat we're going to get into.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:31):
Yeah, thank you for coming on.
So can you please introduceyourself even further, Because
that was a really briefintroduction and I know there's
so much more that you do?
Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (00:43):
So at Texas Center for Lifestyle Medicine,
we create programs for peoplewho really want to discover the
root cause of disease, in groupsand individual programs, and a
big part of what we do iscollaborative medicine, which
means we want to collaboratewith other people and other
healthcare professionals ondiscovery for causes.
In fact, that's where we'rewhere I'm coming all of you
(01:05):
today and also get it out thereright.
I think it's important to sharethe data and also, like I'm
always learning and I mean thelast three years, I've really
learned a lot, especially aboutbrain health, add, adhd, et
cetera that I really want toshare and bring to the world.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (01:26):
Wonderful, and I've been a recipient of your
wonderful knowledge that you'regaining, so I am thankful for
you as well.
So let's dive into it.
Today we're going to be talkingabout the connection between
the airway and ADHD ADDspecifically in adolescence.
So, Dr Ruan, would you like totell us what that connection is?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (01:50):
Yeah, I kind of coined this term skull-brain
connection and it's sort of anew concept.
That is not new, meaning thatit was kind of lost.
It looked like a loss eversince we really got into
modernizing medicine.
But we really have to talkabout the concept of brain
(02:12):
health.
So let me just kind of bringthis into existence real quick.
And the view, the way I viewdisease is not like disease.
The way I view disease is thatwhatever's happening is a
compensation of something else.
We're always compensated forsomething else.
In order for us to survive,that compensation mechanism has
(02:32):
to kick in and that createsdisease and that also creates
disorder.
And when we think aboutattention deficit disorder,
activity disorder, we're lookingat why is the brain
compensating and what's itcompensating for?
And so and in fact the answeris quite simple, because if you
actually look at the behavioralpattern in ADD and ADHD, our
(02:58):
brain is actually trying to stayawake and attentive because
perhaps it's having a hard timedoing so.
So in the world of neurology wethe concept in neurology of ADD
and ADHD is that it could bepotentially secondary to
something else, and the mostcommon is sleep disorders, such
(03:20):
as sleep apnea, or in kids andadolescents, sometimes it is
sleep apnea or sometimes it'ssleep disorder breathing chronic
mouth breathing that creates anecosystem during sleep where
we're not really able to getinto deep sleep.
So during the day our braincompensates by going to this
(03:43):
mode called hypersomnia orhyposomalance, where the brain
wants to take a little micromicro-naps, right?
Well, in Kim's adolescence itbecomes hyperactivity.
In adults we call that fatigueor brain fog, right, memory
issues, etc.
So the nomenclature is a bitdifferent depending on what
(04:06):
stage.
And the question is well, why isit so common these days?
And I think that's what we getinto, because that's where we
look at data, looking at humanskull formations over the last
couple hundred years, right,that's where we look at data of
what else are we really seeingthat's coexisting with ADD and
(04:29):
ADHD.
Why is there so much moreallergies and chronic sinusitis?
Why is there so much moredental issues, right?
Why are there so much morewisdom teeth being removed these
days, whereas before wisdomteeth coming in not an issue?
So these are some aspects thatI think have been lost for some
time in understanding thesedisorders.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (04:50):
Okay, so thank you for that summary, but then
that creates a whole host ofquestions.
We need answers to Something Iwanted to point out for parents
listening Instead of asking thequestion like what's wrong with
my child, right.
Listening Instead of asking thequestion like what's wrong with
my child, right?
Dr Ruan just said your child'sbrain is trying to take naps
during the day, and what it willmanifest as is hyperactivity.
(05:14):
So it's not that your child iswillfully trying to misbehave
and not listen to the teacher.
Your child's brain is trying tocompensate for what it's
missing.
So it's so important for us allto realize that and then start
asking the right questions.
Right?
How can we help our childrensleep better and so that their
(05:36):
brain function better in thedaytime, dr?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (05:39):
David Lamont Wilson-, absolutely, and there's
an approach in root causeanalysis and engineering called
the five whys.
Approach the five whys, the W-H, and engineering called the
five whys.
Approach the five whys, theW-H-Y.
The five whys approach issimply asking why five times?
So let's start.
My child is having inattention,okay.
Or a diagnosis of the energydeficit, right, the why is the
(06:06):
brain compensating?
That's the real first question.
Why is the brain compensatingby exhibiting inattention?
And so the first answer isperhaps sleep quality is not
very good the night before, okay.
Second, why?
Well, why wasn't sleep qualitythat was very good the night
before?
(06:26):
Well, perhaps maybe there's toomuch screen time last night
late into the night, maybethere's too much roblox or or
minecraft, whatever they'redoing these days right.
Or perhaps maybe they ate toolate.
Maybe they're in sports campand they came home at 9 30.
They ate too late and eatingtoo late disrupts sleep, which
can affect them within food.
(06:47):
Perhaps is because the thingsthat they actually eat right and
you know, for the kids outthere, I hate to hate on
Chick-fil-A, but I'm going tofor a second the amount of MSG
in there creates aneuro-excitatory pathway that
really inlays deep sleep, whichis quite so, so addictive as
(07:07):
well.
If you eat that too late at theend, you know.
Once again, I'm sorry parents,I have to hit on Chick-fil-A for
just a second, and then anotherquestion is okay, are there
other reasons that we don't knowabout that?
The sleep could be disrupted.
Well, look at your child'ssleep.
Sometimes their neck could behyper arched, meaning that their
(07:31):
neck is kind of thrownbackwards.
Sometimes they're in differentpositions.
Well, why is that?
Cause they're trying to breatheat nighttime.
Maybe they can't, maybe theirpalate aren't fully expanded, or
maybe they have hereditarytibetaner issues.
Right, perhaps in some parentsa lot of children are born with
(07:53):
like dystonia or torticollis.
That could be its own mechanismto trying to get the airway to
improve as well.
Right, and you hear your childgrinding their teeth at night.
Well, that's the case.
That's a big issue, becausegrinding, the medical term is
called bruxism.
So bruxism is there to try totent open the soft tissues in
(08:14):
the mouth, to tent open theairway, to try to get enough
bleeding as well.
And, by the way, I'm intimatelyfamiliar with this with my
three children, with my threedaughters, so you're not alone.
Perhaps, maybe there's somebedwetting, perhaps there are
issues where the child hasnightmares, product nightmares,
(08:36):
sleepwalking, sleeptalking.
Once again, I've been throughall this as a parent, and so
these are signs and hallmarks ofsomething disrupting in the
fleet right.
And so the second why is afteractually very broad, but we
really have to ask all thesequestions.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (08:56):
Right.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (08:57):
And so let's say , for example, that we know
there's something that's causingthe child or the adolescent not
to sleep very well.
There's a third why?
So let's play this game for asecond.
Let's say the second.
Why is too much screen time?
Okay, how many parentsexperience kids with too much
screen time?
Pretty much all of us, right,right?
(09:20):
Well, why does the child evenwant to have so much screen time
in the nighttime?
Is it because they can formrelationships online?
Is it because that's Y and Z?
Well, maybe, or perhaps thehyper-stimulation of pixelated
light from the screen feeds thechild's dopamine pathways, the
(09:42):
addictive pathways in the brainthat gets hyper-accepted to it.
Because the night before theyalso didn't sleep very well
either.
Okay, so, if you think about it,let's take it back into ancient
civilization.
If our brains were to comeunder stress, right, and we deal
with it and we don't sleepthroughout the night because
(10:04):
maybe there's a war.
This is part of our survivalmechanism.
The next night, our brains areactually triggered, so our eyes
focus on objects and things thatare moving, because there may
be a war, right, and so overtime, our brains really develop
this response.
But instead is no war, it's aniPad or some stuff there.
(10:25):
Hey so now, if your child alsohas issues with sleep and
branding and stuff like that,then that's another war.
The child is battling, isflea-reported, breathing, right,
and that will also createdopamine mechanisms to occur
within the brain.
And when your brain is ondopamine and it can't activate
(10:47):
that serotonin, serotonin willhave a nice calm docus
neurotransmitter right, anddopamine is sort of that
go-go-go excitatory state, thathyperactivity that you see in
kids, right, and so these arethings to really think about.
So that's the third why.
And the fourth why is well, whyis it?
(11:07):
Why is it that a lot of people,a lot of kids, now have sleep
disorder, breathing or airwayimpairments or grinding?
It's because the human skullshave changed over time, the
human anatomy has changed overtime.
So you know, we're in theeighth generation of humans
right now.
That started fromindustrialized world, you know,
(11:30):
and our accessibility to softerfoods and low processed foods
are more and more and more and,epigenetically speaking, meaning
that things that surround thehuman nature in terms of
genetics, we're transferring asmaller jaw, we're transferring
to these smaller palates as well.
On top of that, what happened60, 70 years ago is a fear.
(11:52):
This fear is called the chokinghazard, meaning that a lot of
parents are introducing thechild to solid foods way later
in life than previously as well.
So there's not much chance forthe palate to really fully
expand and grow and develop,which is why there's not enough
real estate for the teeth toreally grow in in the mastilla
(12:14):
and the mandible, the top partor the jaw and the bottom part,
and therefore there's routing,there's overlapping, there's
something called crossbite right, and potentially overbite, and
some underbites as well could becausing an issue where the
brain is sensing that the teethdon't quite fully merge and meet
together.
Right, all right.
(12:36):
And then here comes the fifth.
Why the fifth?
Why was okay?
Well, now that we know that thebrain are changing, because of
the gall shape, that's changing.
Well, why would it affectattention?
Going back into ADD, well, it'ssimple.
So we have an amazing amount ofneural networks within our
brain and these neural networksgo everywhere.
(12:57):
One of them goes from thebrainstem, which is the bottom
part of the brain, past the jaw,right here next to the TMJ, and
it sends multiple branches outand it's called the trigeminal
nerve.
And the trigeminal nerve sendsa branch to the temples, sends a
branch to the maxilla, thesinuses, but also sends branches
(13:18):
to your teeth.
So there's maxillary branchesof these nerves and mandibular
branches of these nerves.
Well, believe it or not,there's so much sensory
information that these nervesare actually going back to the
brain, to the hypothalamus.
Now, what is it sensing?
It's sensing bite force, okay,and so what happens is, well,
(13:42):
what happens when somethingmakes you angry, grit your teeth
, right?
Well, that's no accident, it'sbecause it's sensing that the
bite force right here, the gritof the teeth, allows the body to
go into this fight or flightmechanism, you know, and I call
it the roly-poly mode, where you, like your body, starts feeling
(14:03):
really tense, right, and youkind of roll into a little ball
of anger, or maybe even ball ofexcitement, because the brain
can't tell the differencebetween excitement and anger.
When that happens, it's onlysupposed to happen for a certain
amount of time and for acertain amount of intensity,
because if it happens for toolong or too intense, our body
(14:24):
naturally has a cognitivemechanism.
Well, how does the body knowthat Through the teeth?
So what happens is there isthis reflexive body called the
TCR, the trigeminal cardiacreflex.
Where these branches to theteeth, the trigeminal cardiac
reflex, where these branches tothe teeth of the trigeminal
nerve, okay, goes to the brainand says hey, we can either be
(14:44):
calm or not be calm.
And so if the teeth don't quitemeet together, then the brain
has a hard time calming downbecause it does not get that
signal to hey, I'm safe, I'msafe, I'm safe it gets what
happens.
Inattention happens, right,hyperactivity happens as well.
So the parents listening tothis Now we have a lot of
(15:06):
teenagers like within ourpractice that a lot of times we
ask the parents when did a lotof these behaviors start?
And it usually starts whenthere's sort of a need for, like
, orthodontic work.
It's around them like the sametime, right, and that's really
no, no, acid, neither right.
So, taking the five wiseapproach, we now just looked at
(15:27):
um, a neurological patternthat's rooted to our, our teeth
and other parts of our skull,our sinuses, that's trying to
sense, to give our brain a senseof calm.
Okay, now here's another thingthat I learned during COVID,
because coronavirus, when you'reexposed to coronavirus, a lot
(15:52):
of people exhibit quote-unquoteneurological symptoms and
psychiatric symptoms Anxiety,insomnia, etc.
Etc.
Right, well, those samebranches of the nerve goes back
to the trigeminal nerve andfeeds back to the brain and the
sinus says the same thing.
Hey, there's something going onhere, don't create a con, okay,
and the coronavirus has littledifferent spikes on the outside,
(16:16):
so that spike protein goes intothe mucous membranes within the
sinuses and it can relieve thisgiant inflammatory cascade.
Well, that's also going on inthe mouth when the teeth are
able to bite together, but thatalso goes down in the mouth when
(16:36):
your child also has periodontaldisease, cavities, gingivitis,
etc.
So our sinus and our oralhealth is extraordinarily
important for the brain.
Right Now, in younger people wedo call it ADD, add, add, add,
and in older people we call itother things Brain fog, fatigue,
(16:56):
mild cognitive impairment,which later on leads to dementia
, right, and so we really haveto put the big picture together
for everyone listening to this.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (17:07):
Wow, that's amazing.
It's so interesting howeverything, every single thing
in the body is connected Right.
It's so interesting howeverything, every single thing
in the body is connected right,and so that's why it's so
important to look at the rootcause versus just the symptoms.
No-transcript.
Wow, this is amazing.
So what would you recommendparents do?
(17:33):
Okay, so they've heard this andso, yes, their child is
grinding their teeth, theirchild has ADD, their child the
dentist says take out the wisdomteeth.
What should a parent do, orwhat kinds of questions should
they be asking, or what kinds ofprofessionals should they be
looking for to take care oftheir child's symptoms?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (17:53):
Yeah, you know, I have an organization called
the Physician TransformationInstitute, so we actually teach
dentists and doctors about stufflike this, and one of the
webinars I had is the dentist'srole in brain health right?
Is the dentist role in brainhealth right?
And what's really interestingis that most dentists don't
(18:13):
understand a lot of the conceptsI just talked about.
Neither do most of the doctorsout there, but there's some that
do right.
And there is an associationcalled the AAPMD, the American
Association of PhysiologicDental Medicine.
The AAPMD is an extraordinaryorganization where they discuss
(18:36):
these things.
It's really the meeting betweenpeople who are stressful for
oral health and dental healthand everyone else right.
And there's anotherorganization called the SEC, the
Sleep Education Consortiumeveryone else right.
And there's anotherorganization called the SEC, the
Split Educational Consortium.
That's founded by my friend, drGerald Simmons about 20 years
(18:57):
ago and he is a triple-borecertified neurologist and, in
fact, people listening to this.
I did an entire podcast withhim.
You can find it on YouTube.
If you just search on YouTubethe skull brain connection, it's
usually the first one that popsup.
Between me and Dr Siggins, wereally deep dive into this, and
(19:18):
so I think it's important totalk to healthcare professionals
who kind of understand it andtalk to dentists who understand
this, usually through theAAPMD's organization.
There are other organizationsthat are out there as well.
There's actually tons ofeducation on this now, really
over the last seven to eightyears, that we can actually find
(19:40):
, and there's a great bookcalled Breath by James Nestor.
It's a bright yellow book ifyou want to look on Amazon.
But what about the medicalprofessionals that you talked
about?
Right, I think it's importantto work with dentists who are
trained in airway dentistry, whodo treat lead apnea, especially
in pediatrics.
There's also pediatricchiropractors who actually work
(20:06):
on improving their airway foryour kids and releasing a lot of
the tension that's within theneck to help the child breed as
well.
So it's really an amazingconsortium of professionals and
all really have to collaboratetogether to do all this right.
And you know, and the thing islike we don't want to take away
(20:27):
some of the other stuff that youcan do at home, which is making
sure the diet is good, makingsure there's not too much
processed foods, et cetera, etcetera.
Those are all extraordinarilyimportant things because they do
affect your breathing and yourairway and, if you think about
it a lot of times children andadolescents eat things and then
(20:49):
they get a little snotty, right,they start having, they start
having mucus come out their nose, like literally snotty, a lot
of snot coming out their noseRight and and the term snotty
has the double meaning becausesnotty also means someone who's
not behaving or aggressive orsomething like that right, but
where did it came from?
It came from the fact that thesinuses become so congested that
(21:11):
they can activate themechanisms within the brain that
create that serotonin, the calmneuro-pansion, their dopamine
dependent in their brain, andall of a sudden their behavior
changes.
So snotty in the nose equalssnotty children, sometimes Right
and snotty adults too.
You know, right now I'm acongester.
If they got sick it's fromdaycare.
(21:33):
But yeah, you don't feel goodwhenever your son is congested,
and neither do children.
So if they're eating foods andeating things that can create
mucus, then those are things toreally pay attention to.
You know, and that's what I dowith my kid, my two-year-old is
becoming really like snotty.
(21:55):
I have a lot of mucus in thenose and is coughing a bit.
Well, I go to hey, what's goingon.
You know, what did my child eat, or what do we really do, and
those are things to payattention to as well.
It all goes back into attentionand patient death right.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (22:13):
So what are some examples of foods that parents
can can watch out for that causemucus?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (22:20):
oh gosh, yeah, so this is a good question.
So what I want people tounderstand when I, when I list
some of these things, is this isnot universal.
It's really.
You really have to see howpeople respond.
You know I don't do a whole lotof pediatric, I do mostly adult
medicine, so but it's the same.
My same recommendation for foradults as well, is the first
(22:41):
thing, that it's the mostimportant, is processed food.
I think processed food I'mlooking at you Cheetos these
actually were designed for anaddictive response in the brain.
There's also a lot of MSG andsome other components that are
in there and they can be gettingyour child to a bit different
(23:02):
behaviors.
Okay, and when sometimes yourchild is exhibiting these
behaviors, they got a runny noseas well.
That's a big indication.
That's there.
So processed foods, I think, isreally important, and this
actually goes into processedmeats as well, by the way.
So sometimes you'll notice that, let's say, the child's eating
(23:25):
a hot dog or a sausage and theystart having a big runny nose
for a couple of days.
Right, that's a big indication.
But then if they eatnon-processed meats whether it's
beef or chicken, whatever it isright If you don't find that
that's a huge indication as well.
So don't think that processedmeats are kind of outside of
this category.
So that's by far the biggestnumber one.
(23:45):
Number two is actually a lackof water.
That's by far the biggestnumber one.
Number two is actually a lackof water.
So dehydration is probably themost common trigger for
behavioral issues andinattention in adults and in
children.
So when the kids want water,they'll tell you they want water
and make sure you give themwater.
(24:06):
So what's not in the categoryof water is like sodas and stuff
like that, because that canalso trigger attention as well.
A lot of parents are what aboutjuice?
You know?
So I would definitely.
You know, my kids are goodenough to know that whenever
they get a juice, they, they,they enjoy it, but they dilute
it like themselves, right, likedaddy, bring me some waters,
(24:27):
because this is juice, and sothey've been kind of trying to
do that.
But they also don't like a lotof the overstimulating sweets
and they're not necessarily usedto it, and so you are having
one out there and having juiceand stuff like that which is
diluted.
Now there's some juices thatcome like not very sweet anyways
, that are out there which youcan get, but you gotta, you
(24:49):
gotta pay attention to, to, tothe reaction to the behaviors,
what their body's doing, theirstudy stuff like that, right.
And another category, and it'sit's processed sugars, and when
I say processed sugars I meanthings that are, you know, beige
in color and white and stufflike that, right.
(25:10):
And so natural sugars, such asthe things that are found in
fruit, is actually quite amazing, because there's polyphenols,
which are basically plant-basedcompounds that actually do help
the brain, right.
And so processed sugars we wantto be really aware of.
And then my last category issugar substitutes.
I'm not a fan of sugarsubstitutes because there's huge
(25:31):
behavioral implications insugar substitutes as well, with
the exception of natural sugarsubstitutes, such as stevia is
okay, and I just forgot what theother one is Monk fruit is okay
as well, and so these are morenatural things that are out
there, but a lot of thesaccharides, a lot of the other
major process sugar substitutesthat are chemically made have a
(25:55):
huge detrimental effect on brainfunction.
In fact, it actually has beenshown to accentuate pain,
meaning a small amount of painstimulus that the brain can
actually say hey, this is morethan what I'm used to was.
The brain can actually say, hey, this is more than what I'm
used to.
So that's called painsensitization.
And we also know that sugarsubstitutes dramatically
(26:16):
decrease sleep quality as well.
So those are some of the thingsto pay attention to.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (26:20):
Yes, you're absolutely right.
I had a little four-year-old.
I found that was drinkingchocolate milk in the middle of
the night and I told him stopand voila, he sleeps now amazing
, and his behavior improved thenext day yeah, yeah, well, and
that's that's the thing aboutmilk too, because milk is not
just sugars.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (26:40):
There's there's casein in there and some people
you know they're not lactoseintolerant but they react to
casein.
And there's a protein in milkcalled caseomorphone.
It got its name from the wordmorphine because it has a very
similar effect on the brain, andso for some people, drinking
milk before bedtime has amorphine-like effect and so
(27:05):
that's a genetic predispositionthat's there.
That is not great for the brain, and so you don't run into a
bit more phenolic effects priorto bed, and so if your child is
really wanting that glass ofmilk, that may be the actual
issue.
At that time it may beconvenient, but over a long
(27:29):
period of time it actually doessome destruction.
You just want to be careful.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (27:33):
Yes, absolutely.
So what's your take on honey?
What if it's raw honey?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (27:41):
Okay, I think it depends, because honey has
really amazing medicinalbenefits as well.
It's the only thing that canmake sure you live a jar out.
It won't expire, right?
Honey has its own naturalantimicrobials.
That actually fortifies theimmune system.
But you can overdo it withhoney, just like anything else,
I think.
Right, you got to play aroundwith it and see how your child
(28:04):
reacts, right?
Yep, I agree.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (28:05):
Wow, that's been so, so helpful how your child
reacts, right.
Yep, I agree.
Wow, that's been so, so helpfulto, even to me.
I'm thinking I have a wholepage of notes.
Yes, and that's why we'realways learning, because we want
to keep expanding our knowledgebase so we can help parents and
children be the best version ofthemselves.
(28:25):
So thank you so much, dr Ruan,for all you've shared version of
themselves.
So thank you so much, dr Ruan,for all you've shared.
Can you tell our guests or ourparents listening where they can
find you and find out moreabout, and even the
professionals that will belistening to this, where they
can find out about the programsthat you offer?
Dr. Cheng Ruan (28:41):
Yeah, so for the parents, you know I'm the CEO
of Texas Center for LifestyleMedicine.
You can search for that onGoogle and Instagram and
Facebook, et cetera.
For me, I have my own personalsocial media as well.
It's my name, so it's ChangRung.
First name is C-H-E-N-G.
Last name is R-U-A-N-M-D.
You'll find that on all my taghandles.
(29:03):
For those professionalslistening to me, send me a
message on LinkedIn.
I'm the executive director ofthe Physician Transformation
Institute, where we get doctorsto think differently and be
curious about things that areoutside of what we were taught
in school.
We also raise funds forPhysician Burke.
We're now in PhysicianDepression.
We're at an all-time high rightnow in the history of the
(29:25):
profession.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (29:26):
Thank you so much for what you do, so
thankful you could come on hereand forward to having another
one with you.
Dr. Cheng Ruan (29:34):
Yes, thank you so much and you know I'm going
to leave.
One last message for the peoplethat are listening into me
today is it's not about being100% perfect parents.
It's really not, and I say thatbecause my kids also eat some
Chick-fil-A in there, all right.
It's not about being a hundredpercent perfect.
It's about always be auditing,meaning that, observe what
(29:59):
actually happens and talk aboutwhat actually happens.
Right, um I that the more youcommunicate and educate um your
children yourself, um yoursignificant other, the family,
grandparents especially, I thinkthat's a big one, right?
The more that we talk aboutthis in an open fashion, the
better.
But it's not about being 100%perfection.
(30:21):
So, parents, give yourself somegrace, because I do.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (30:24):
Yes, me too, absolutely.
Thank you so much for that lastgem that you dropped.
So, yes, parents, like Dr Rowansays, nobody's perfect.
There's no manual forparenthood.
We just keep doing what we canevery day and showing ourselves
love, so we can definitely loveour children.
(30:45):
So have an amazing day andthank you for listening.
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