Embrace the groundbreaking truth: cognitive decline isn't an unavoidable part of aging! In this compelling episode of the Inflammation Nation podcast, we reveal how maintaining robust brain health through enhancing Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) can significantly elevate your quality of life as you age. We'll tackle the misconception that cognitive decline is simply a consequence of getting older and shed light on how neglecting brain-healthy activities contributes to this myth. Tune in to understand why a proactive approach to wellness and longevity can defy the conventional defeatist attitude and pave the way for sustained cognitive vitality.
Dive into the fascinating world of BDNF with us and discover its pivotal role in brain growth, development, and neuroprotection. We explore how BDNF is secreted by neurons and various tissues, and its critical presence in regions like the hippocampus and neocortex that are essential for learning, memory, and stress regulation. Learn about the consequences of low BDNF levels, ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to cardiovascular issues. We'll also cover the significance of BDNF in brain areas such as the cerebellum, striatum, and amygdala, setting the stage for our next episode where we'll arm you with strategies to boost BDNF for a longer, healthier life. Don't miss this chance to revolutionize your understanding of aging and brain health!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome to the Inflammation Nation
podcast.
I'm your host, Dr SteveNoseberg.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
One of the greatest obstacles to crafting health and
wellness is identifying andcontrolling inflammation.
It's at the core of all complexand chronic diseases and it's
the driving mechanism thatunderlies the most common
symptoms that people like youstruggle to overcome.
Join us as we explore cuttingedge science and research to
give you the information andtools you need to create the
(00:28):
quality of life you want anddeserve.
And now here is the host ofInflammation Nation, dr Stephen
Nosworthy.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast.
This is another episode in adifferent Miracle Molecule, so
we've been talking about aseries of what I'm calling
Miracle Molecules, things thatjust do amazing things inside of
our bodies, and things that Ithink you guys need to know
about as you think aboutoptimizing your health and
(00:57):
wellness or overcoming thehealth challenges that you're
dealing with.
Before I get started on thenext miracle molecule, which is
something called BDNF maybeyou've heard about it, but one
of the things that I've beenthinking about over the last few
years is how wellness is notaccidental and having longevity
(01:22):
coupled with a satisfactoryquality of life is about
managing the inevitable, andwhat I mean is that, you know,
when we're younger, we have thatadvantage of youth and as long
as the diet and activity levelof a young person is reasonable,
they really don't have to dotoo much to not be sick.
(01:44):
Reasonable, they really don'thave to do too much to not be
sick.
And maybe that's changingbecause we've messed up our
environment, we've messed up thefood supply and gosh, that's a
whole other bunny trail.
It could go down, but thebottom line is that as we age,
things change and in a sense,part of that is quite inevitable
(02:06):
, and if you've been listeningto this podcast for a while,
you've heard me talk about howthings change once you hit your
40s, roughly speaking, andwhether it's the loss of muscle
power, speed, strength and mass,or if it's a decline in your
VO2 max or changes in insulinsensitivity or fat cell behavior
(02:29):
.
The ugly truth is that we getolder, things do change, and
they don't change for the better, and so you have to be
intentional, and that's not tomean that we just shrug our
shoulders and echo theabsolutely devastating mantra of
well, you're just getting older.
What it means is that we needto be more aware of what these
(02:54):
changes are as we age, and thenwe need to intentionally
implement steps and strategiesthat will prevent or modify or
change, resolve, eliminate,compensate whatever word you
want to use for those changes.
In fact, I would say that thequote-unquote I'm just getting
(03:15):
older excuse is exactly thatit's an excuse, and really it's
a defeatist attitude.
So today, this fourth miraclemolecule we're going to talk
about is this thing called BDNF,and it's all about the brain.
Let me read you a shortparagraph from the Nature
(03:35):
Journal calledNeuropsychopharmacology.
That's basically brain, mindand medications.
So here's the quote.
Normal brain aging is associatedwith progressive cellular and
structural changes, cognitivedecline and increased
vulnerability to neurobiologicaldisease, and that would be
(03:56):
things like Alzheimer's,parkinsonism, etc.
With dramatic growth of theolder population, the need to
understand the mechanism andconsequence of aging on the
brain has become criticallyimportant.
Imaging studies report asmaller prefrontal cortex volume
in elderly patients withoutobvious neurological disease.
(04:17):
That was a quote from a paperthat was published back in 2002,
so you know 22 years from whenI'm recording this.
Now, if you don't know what theprefrontal cortex is, it's the
part of the brain that defineswho you are.
It's the part of the brain thatlets you plan or set goals, to
(04:38):
make decisions, to implementthose plans, and we we tend to
sum up all of those differentfunctions into the phrase
executive function.
And that's what the prefrontalcortex does.
It gives us the ability to planand execute, so to speak.
The study goes on to say that inautopsies of the elderly they
(05:00):
see shorter and smaller neuronsand a loss of neuronal
connectivity in the prefrontalcortex, and that leads to loss
of function.
But they note that this ishappening in the absence of
brain disease, so there's notlike a disease there that's
making this happen.
It just happens as we get older.
And what's worse is that in themedical community I'm talking
(05:25):
about conventional medicine,perhaps even some aspects of
alternative medicine there's atendency to confuse what is
common with what's normal.
So it is common for people tolose brain power as they age.
But is that because that's howthe system is designed, or is it
a consequence of things thathappen to the brain?
(05:45):
Or maybe it's a consequence ofnot doing the things that we
used to do that kept our brainhealthy when we were younger?
And if we do those things as weage, can we prevent this
non-disease-based changes inbrain and functionality?
Non-disease-based changes inbrain and functionality?
(06:11):
So my thought is that if, aspeople progressed, say through
their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond,if they continued to do things
that they did when they wereyounger, that kept their brains
healthy, we would see far lessage-related loss of neuron size
and length and connectivity inthe brain and we would preserve
that functional connectivitythat allows us to maintain a
quality of life that is quiteoften considered uncommon for
(06:35):
the elderly.
And just to clarify when I sayconnectivity, that's how neurons
talk to each other or howdifferent brains or brain
regions talk to other brainregions.
We might call it functionalconnectivity, and this is the
degree of interconnectivity inthe neurons is what allows the
system to work efficiently.
(06:55):
Give me fewer neurons that arebetter connected than more
neurons that are less wellconnected.
But let's face it, when we meetor hear people hear about
people in their 80s or 90s whoare still mentally sharp,
they're still physically active,we're amazed because what we've
(07:18):
just encountered is uncommon.
Most of us will fall into thetrap and the lie of health
problems being the natural ornormal outcome of age-related
decline or normal outcome ofage-related decline, and only
those of us who are willing torecognize that, to take action
(07:42):
as we age beyond 40, will haveany chance of being that spry,
uncommon 80 or 90-year-old thateveryone likes to talk about.
So another way to think aboutthis is to ask yourself whether
or not you're still doing thingsthat you did in your 20s and
30s.
You know things that were partof a healthy, active life and
lifestyle For most of us when wewere young.
We were more physically active.
We maybe had a more robustsocial life.
(08:04):
We had a multitude of interestsand activities that we pursued.
We were probably engaged insome kind of ongoing learning
process where we're beingexposed to new topics, new
information, new ideas.
Some of us played organizedsports, we learned teamwork and
you know, maybe you traveled andexperienced new languages and
(08:26):
cultures.
When we were younger we tendedto have our ears tuned to the
music of the day.
You know, I remember, you knoweagerly awaiting the release
from my favorite music artists,maybe exploring new music genres
, and in scientific terms wewould call that an enriched
(08:46):
environment, that our lifebeyond ourselves was rich with
other things and other people.
But you know, it's kind of sad.
It's again common Maybe it'snot normal, but it's common that
as we grow up and life placemore demands on us, we get
married, we have kids, weestablish careers, we take on
(09:09):
all kinds of responsibilities.
The enrichment of our life inthat not to say that being
married and having kids and agood career is not enriching
your life I'm not saying that atall, so please don't
misunderstand me.
But my point is is that thefocus of our life narrows down
and there's a consequence tothat, and that is that we're not
exposed to this diverse rangeof environmental and sensory
(09:35):
stimulation that actually isreally good for our brain, or
even social stimulation, and alot of times what happens is our
mindset changes.
We maybe start to see thenegative in the world that we
didn't recognize when we wereyounger.
Maybe we forget the virtuousand the beautiful and the net
result is that we stop a lot ofthe things that we used to do
(09:57):
and think about life thatstimulated the very mechanisms
of youth and vitality.
In reality, there is an agingprocess in all systems and that
is inevitable.
But the power that has over youpales in comparison to the
choices that you make and thehabits that you form that can
(10:18):
offset and manage thisinevitable change and decline.
You know, it's always mystifiedme when in the past I would tell
someone that you know maybe Iordered a brain scan for them,
but maybe someone.
We look at the brain scan andthey're kind of amazed like my
brain has shrunk.
That's the loss of neuron sizeand length I mentioned from the
(10:41):
journal article.
Depending on the degree ofatrophy of the brain, you can
actually pick it up on an MRI,pick it up on an MRI.
And now we have specialized MRItechniques like the neuroquant,
for example, that actually isdesigned to measure size and
volume changes in the brain thatwe might associate with things
like dementia, includingAlzheimer's, but it's always
(11:03):
mystified me let me get back tomy point that when I show
someone their brain scan andtell them that the brain has
shrunk, it always mystified methat they would be an older
person and they were likethey're shocked that their brain
has changed.
I mean, if you look at me, ifyou're watching this on video on
YouTube, like I have lines andcreases in my skin at now, 60
(11:29):
years old that I didn't have inmy 20s and my 30s.
So all I have to do is look inthe mirror and I can see the
effects of age on my skin.
That's obvious to me, so Ishouldn't be surprised that just
as my skin has changed and aged, so too has every organ and
every tissue in my body,including my brain.
(11:50):
And once again, just becauseaging is inevitable, it doesn't
mean that you have to roll overand play dead.
You can take steps to protect,perhaps even recapture, some of
the functions that you've lostdue to the aging process.
Let me give you an example ofhow dangerous this idea is of
accepting age-related changes asnormal.
(12:10):
How dangerous this idea is ofaccepting age-related changes as
normal.
I recently started working witha gentleman.
He's in his late 60s.
He's had brain complaints thathave seriously affected his
quality of life.
And first of all, to look athim, he looks like he's in his
late 70s easily.
He easily looks 10 years olderthan his chronological age.
But his brain shows changes onimaging that we usually don't
(12:35):
see until someone is in their80s, and he's in his late 60s.
And so not only does he haveevidence of a brain that has
aged too quickly, he'sexperiencing the loss of
functional connectivity thatallows the brain to function
well, despite the aging process.
That allows the brain tofunction well, despite the aging
process.
(12:56):
And while I look at his MRIreport and think, gosh, this
isn't cool, because we're seeingan aged brain compared to his
chronological age, his MDbasically said that this was
quote normal for his age, and tothat I call BS.
But I've heard this my entire30-odd year of career.
But that is what comes fromconfusing common with normal.
And if he just accepted whathis MD had said well, this is
(13:16):
normal he would not have evenpursued the options that might
be open to him to at the veryleast protect his brain from
things accelerating.
So the danger of attributingage-related decline simply to
the aging process is that itlulls you into a passive mindset
where you simply just acceptwhat comes and early losses in
(13:41):
functionality or health.
They get ignored or they getshrugged off as simple aging and
whatever process is involved isleft to evolve into greater and
greater states of decline thathave more negative impacts on
the quality of life and perhapsultimately, longevity.
So remember that as we age, itis common for people to stop all
(14:04):
the things that would otherwisepreserve quality of life and
would help stem the tides of age, but that doesn't have to be
you.
All right, let me get off mysoapbox and let's talk about the
next miracle molecule, thisthing called BDNF, which stands
(14:25):
for brain-derived neurotrophicfactor.
BDNF is a small protein and, bythe way, this is clearly.
It's going to be well clearlyto me.
It's going to be a two-episodesession on BDNF, so I want to
just talk a little bit aboutwhat BDNF is, what it does and
so on, and then next episodewe'll talk about some of the
research and some of the studiesthat talk about how we can have
an impact on this.
(14:45):
So BDNF it's a small protein.
It's secreted by the neurons ofthe brain and the neurons of
the peripheral nervous system.
So it's not just about thebrain, it's about the nervous
system, but we tend to think ofthe brain as being the most
important aspect of that.
And BDNF belongs to a largerfamily of proteins called
(15:05):
neurotrophins that basicallysupport brain growth and
development.
They're important regulators ofbrain circuits.
They promote what we callsynaptic and network plasticity.
That's how the brain learns.
It permanently learns differentfunctions, as well as being
involved in the process ofneurogeneration not
(15:27):
neurodegeneration, butneurogeneration, or regeneration
and neuroprotection.
So essentially, withoutadequate BDNF, things go very
bad for your brain.
But the brain isn't actuallythe only tissue that makes BDNF.
We know that immune cells makeBDNF when the brain is inflamed
(15:47):
or when it's injured, like in aconcussion, and this helps to
protect the brain and supportthe repair process.
And we also know that whennerve endings, say out in your
body, terminate into targettissues like muscle cells or
even the cells that line yourblood vessels, these target
tissues secrete BDNF as a resultof being stimulated by the
(16:12):
nerve endings, and so what thatmeans is that when your brain
sends a signal to an organ likeyour liver, uh, then your liver
makes a little bit of BDNF.
That then helps the nerveconnection remain stable and
function properly, and thatensures a strong connection and
good communication between yourbrain and your organ systems,
and when I say organ systems, Imean all of them.
(16:37):
Unfortunately, we don't have anycommercial lab tests to check
your BDNF levels, and we don'thave any way to check BDNF
specifically in your brain.
Now, some research labs canmeasure BDNF in blood for
research purposes, but justbecause we see researchers using
certain tests doesn't mean thatI, as a clinician, or you, as a
(16:57):
healthcare consumer, can accessthe same type of testing.
After all, lab testing is acommercial business venture, and
so they're only going to labs,are only going to offer labs
that a lot of people are goingto order, that they can make a
lot of money on right.
So sometimes we see testsavailable or being used in
research only and I can't goanywhere to order that, for
(17:19):
example, on any of the clientsor on myself, for example, on
any of the clients or on myself.
So some research labs canmeasure BDNF in blood, but we
don't know how the levels inblood actually relate to levels
in the brain.
So even if we had a blood test,we can't even tell where the
(17:40):
BDNF in your blood has come from, because it comes from so many
different tissues.
So blood levels, if we couldmeasure them commercially, are
the aggregate of BDNF being madeeverywhere in the body,
including the brain, and sothere's limited utility there,
even if a test was available toyou and me.
And what that leaves us with isdoing our best to understand
what BDNF is, what it does, andthen how we can improve that
(18:05):
what it does and then how we canimprove that.
So let's talk about some of thethings that are associated with
let's call them, imbalances inBDNF levels.
Number one there's anassociation between deficient or
low BDNF and neurodegenerativeand psychiatric diseases.
So we're talking about thingslike Alzheimer's as the most
common form of dementia, but wealso see low BDNF in research
(18:29):
associated with major depressivedisorder, even schizophrenia.
We also know that poor BDNFsignaling also contributes to
abnormal physiology and functionof the heart, of the blood
vessels.
It's involved in coronaryartery disease, so think about
plaque in your arteries.
But it's also dysregulated invery common things like diabetes
(18:53):
or inflammatory disorders,certain types of cancers, which
is, you know, not my thing.
There are people out there thatin functional medicine that
deal with cancers or people withcancer I don't do that kind of
work but it's also shown instudies where they look at
amplified pain perception.
(19:14):
So BDNF dysregulation can beinvolved in many different
things.
It's not just about the brain,but anywhere the brain reaches
and that's probably a good wayto think about it is that your
brain reaches all of yourtissues and cells by reaching
its tendrils, if you will, fromyour skull down through your
(19:35):
spinal canal, out into yourperipheral system, through the
peripheral nerves, so it'spretty much everywhere right.
And so we do know.
Research does confirm that BDNFlevels tend to drop as we age,
and this is critical because ofnot just what BDNF does and what
doesn't happen when we lose it,but because of where BDNF is
(19:57):
concentrated, because it's notpresent in equal amounts in all
places.
We know that BDNF is widelydistributed throughout the brain
, but it's not distributedequally in the brain either.
It's particularly wellrepresented in the part of the
brain called the hippocampuswhich is critically involved in
two things that might beimportant to you, that is,
(20:19):
learning and memory.
And the hippocampus also isinvolved in control of your
adrenal circadian rhythm.
It controls your stresschemistry.
And the hippocampus also isinvolved in control of your
adrenal circadian rhythm.
It controls your stresschemistry and the stress hormone
cortisol.
Bdnf is particularly wellrepresented, again, in what's
called the neocortex, and that'sthe part of your brain that
develops after you're born.
(20:39):
You're born with a primal,primitive brain.
That's really just aboutsurvival.
Can I go to sleep?
Can I?
Am I going to get some food?
Am I hungry?
Do I need to poop?
You know baby's brains arequite functional, but that
function is relegated basicallyto survival.
It's not like a newborn canplay a game of chess or ride a
bicycle.
All those things develop later,whether it's language or the
(21:02):
ability to control movement,appreciation of art, love, humor
, all these different things.
That's all part of this thingcalled the neocortex.
Bdnf is also concentrated in thecerebellum, which I know I've
talked about this before.
Usually, if you know anythingabout the cerebellum, you
probably think well, that'sabout balance and equilibrium,
and that is true.
(21:23):
But the cerebellum also hasdivisions that serve not just
movement and balance, but itcontrols cognition or thinking,
and it controls emotionality.
And then we have some otherstructures that you know these
names might not be familiar toyou the striatum, which is part
(21:43):
of the basal ganglia complex,another part of the brain called
the amygdala, which is, let'ssay let's call that your fear
complex, and that's a lot oftechnical terminology.
But basically all of thesestructures that I just named
house the major neural networksthat make you who you are and
serve your quality of brainfunction and your quality of
(22:05):
life.
And so what this means is, as weget ready to wind down this
introductory episode andremember, we'll come back in the
next episode and we'll talkmore about what affects BDNF and
then how we can affect BDNF butwhat this means is that when we
lose it, when we lose thatcapacity in the brain,
(22:28):
specifically, we loseneuroprotection and we allow
neurodegeneration in the braincircuits that serve core
functions, and these thingsrelate directly to quality of
life, if not longevity itself,but definitely quality of life.
So memory, cognition, theability to move, balance control
(22:48):
, thought, control, emotion andagain, that's who we are that
gosh you guys are probably tiredof hearing me say this, but who
cares about longevity if yourquality of life sucks?
Right?
You want both.
You want to live long and tolive well, and if I can't live
long, let me live well until mydays are done.
(23:09):
So, without a doubt, bdnfdeserves a place in our list of
miracle molecules, and so, again, what remains, then, is again,
we'll deal with this in the nextepisode is to talk about the
strategies and tactics that youcan use to support your own BDNF
and, in doing so, feelconfident that you are
(23:31):
harnessing the power that thishas to protect your brain and
how well your brain communicatesto all the systems, organs and
cells in your body, and sothat's exactly what we're going
to do next time, right here onthe Information Nation.
(23:53):
This podcast is for generalinformational and educational
purposes only and does notconstitute the practice of
medicine in any form or capacity.
No doctor-patient relationshipis formed.
The use of the information inthis podcast or any materials
associated with or linked to thepodcast is at the listener's
own risk.
The content of this podcast isnot intended to be a substitute
for professional andpersonalized medical advice,
(24:15):
diagnosis or treatment, andlisteners should not disregard
or delay obtaining propermedical advice when a health
condition exists and warrantsthat.
Delay obtaining proper medicaladvice when a health condition
exists and warrants that.
And finally, functionalmedicine is not intended or
designed to treat disease, butrather is a natural approach to
(24:36):
support restoring health andwellness.
The use of diet and lifestylemodifications and nutritional
supplementation is supportivefor adjunctive Care.
Hey everyone, welcome to the Inflammation Nation
podcast.
I'm your host, Dr SteveNoseberg.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
One of the greatest obstacles to crafting health and
wellness is identifying andcontrolling inflammation.
It's at the core of all complexand chronic diseases and it's
the driving mechanism thatunderlies the most common
symptoms that people like youstruggle to overcome.
Join us as we explore cuttingedge science and research to
give you the information andtools you need to create the
(00:28):
quality of life you want anddeserve.
And now here is the host ofInflammation Nation, dr Stephen
Nosworthy.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast.
This is another episode in adifferent Miracle Molecule, so
we've been talking about aseries of what I'm calling
Miracle Molecules, things thatjust do amazing things inside of
our bodies, and things that Ithink you guys need to know
about as you think aboutoptimizing your health and
(00:57):
wellness or overcoming thehealth challenges that you're
dealing with.
Before I get started on thenext miracle molecule, which is
something called BDNF maybeyou've heard about it, but one
of the things that I've beenthinking about over the last few
years is how wellness is notaccidental and having longevity
(01:22):
coupled with a satisfactoryquality of life is about
managing the inevitable, andwhat I mean is that, you know,
when we're younger, we have thatadvantage of youth and as long
as the diet and activity levelof a young person is reasonable,
they really don't have to dotoo much to not be sick.
(01:44):
Reasonable, they really don'thave to do too much to not be
sick.
And maybe that's changingbecause we've messed up our
environment, we've messed up thefood supply and gosh, that's a
whole other bunny trail.
It could go down, but thebottom line is that as we age,
things change and in a sense,part of that is quite inevitable
(02:06):
, and if you've been listeningto this podcast for a while,
you've heard me talk about howthings change once you hit your
40s, roughly speaking, andwhether it's the loss of muscle
power, speed, strength and mass,or if it's a decline in your
VO2 max or changes in insulinsensitivity or fat cell behavior
(02:29):
.
The ugly truth is that we getolder, things do change, and
they don't change for the better, and so you have to be
intentional, and that's not tomean that we just shrug our
shoulders and echo theabsolutely devastating mantra of
well, you're just getting older.
What it means is that we needto be more aware of what these
(02:54):
changes are as we age, and thenwe need to intentionally
implement steps and strategiesthat will prevent or modify or
change, resolve, eliminate,compensate whatever word you
want to use for those changes.
In fact, I would say that thequote-unquote I'm just getting
(03:15):
older excuse is exactly thatit's an excuse, and really it's
a defeatist attitude.
So today, this fourth miraclemolecule we're going to talk
about is this thing called BDNF,and it's all about the brain.
Let me read you a shortparagraph from the Nature
(03:35):
Journal calledNeuropsychopharmacology.
That's basically brain, mindand medications.
So here's the quote.
Normal brain aging is associatedwith progressive cellular and
structural changes, cognitivedecline and increased
vulnerability to neurobiologicaldisease, and that would be
(03:56):
things like Alzheimer's,parkinsonism, etc.
With dramatic growth of theolder population, the need to
understand the mechanism andconsequence of aging on the
brain has become criticallyimportant.
Imaging studies report asmaller prefrontal cortex volume
in elderly patients withoutobvious neurological disease.
(04:17):
That was a quote from a paperthat was published back in 2002,
so you know 22 years from whenI'm recording this.
Now, if you don't know what theprefrontal cortex is, it's the
part of the brain that defineswho you are.
It's the part of the brain thatlets you plan or set goals, to
(04:38):
make decisions, to implementthose plans, and we we tend to
sum up all of those differentfunctions into the phrase
executive function.
And that's what the prefrontalcortex does.
It gives us the ability to planand execute, so to speak.
The study goes on to say that inautopsies of the elderly they
(05:00):
see shorter and smaller neuronsand a loss of neuronal
connectivity in the prefrontalcortex, and that leads to loss
of function.
But they note that this ishappening in the absence of
brain disease, so there's notlike a disease there that's
making this happen.
It just happens as we get older.
And what's worse is that in themedical community I'm talking
(05:25):
about conventional medicine,perhaps even some aspects of
alternative medicine there's atendency to confuse what is
common with what's normal.
So it is common for people tolose brain power as they age.
But is that because that's howthe system is designed, or is it
a consequence of things thathappen to the brain?
(05:45):
Or maybe it's a consequence ofnot doing the things that we
used to do that kept our brainhealthy when we were younger?
And if we do those things as weage, can we prevent this
non-disease-based changes inbrain and functionality?
Non-disease-based changes inbrain and functionality?
(06:11):
So my thought is that if, aspeople progressed, say through
their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond,if they continued to do things
that they did when they wereyounger, that kept their brains
healthy, we would see far lessage-related loss of neuron size
and length and connectivity inthe brain and we would preserve
that functional connectivitythat allows us to maintain a
quality of life that is quiteoften considered uncommon for
(06:35):
the elderly.
And just to clarify when I sayconnectivity, that's how neurons
talk to each other or howdifferent brains or brain
regions talk to other brainregions.
We might call it functionalconnectivity, and this is the
degree of interconnectivity inthe neurons is what allows the
system to work efficiently.
(06:55):
Give me fewer neurons that arebetter connected than more
neurons that are less wellconnected.
But let's face it, when we meetor hear people hear about
people in their 80s or 90s whoare still mentally sharp,
they're still physically active,we're amazed because what we've
(07:18):
just encountered is uncommon.
Most of us will fall into thetrap and the lie of health
problems being the natural ornormal outcome of age-related
decline or normal outcome ofage-related decline, and only
those of us who are willing torecognize that, to take action
(07:42):
as we age beyond 40, will haveany chance of being that spry,
uncommon 80 or 90-year-old thateveryone likes to talk about.
So another way to think aboutthis is to ask yourself whether
or not you're still doing thingsthat you did in your 20s and
30s.
You know things that were partof a healthy, active life and
lifestyle For most of us when wewere young.
We were more physically active.
We maybe had a more robustsocial life.
(08:04):
We had a multitude of interestsand activities that we pursued.
We were probably engaged insome kind of ongoing learning
process where we're beingexposed to new topics, new
information, new ideas.
Some of us played organizedsports, we learned teamwork and
you know, maybe you traveled andexperienced new languages and
(08:26):
cultures.
When we were younger we tendedto have our ears tuned to the
music of the day.
You know, I remember, you knoweagerly awaiting the release
from my favorite music artists,maybe exploring new music genres
, and in scientific terms wewould call that an enriched
(08:46):
environment, that our lifebeyond ourselves was rich with
other things and other people.
But you know, it's kind of sad.
It's again common Maybe it'snot normal, but it's common that
as we grow up and life placemore demands on us, we get
married, we have kids, weestablish careers, we take on
(09:09):
all kinds of responsibilities.
The enrichment of our life inthat not to say that being
married and having kids and agood career is not enriching
your life I'm not saying that atall, so please don't
misunderstand me.
But my point is is that thefocus of our life narrows down
and there's a consequence tothat, and that is that we're not
exposed to this diverse rangeof environmental and sensory
(09:35):
stimulation that actually isreally good for our brain, or
even social stimulation, and alot of times what happens is our
mindset changes.
We maybe start to see thenegative in the world that we
didn't recognize when we wereyounger.
Maybe we forget the virtuousand the beautiful and the net
result is that we stop a lot ofthe things that we used to do
(09:57):
and think about life thatstimulated the very mechanisms
of youth and vitality.
In reality, there is an agingprocess in all systems and that
is inevitable.
But the power that has over youpales in comparison to the
choices that you make and thehabits that you form that can
(10:18):
offset and manage thisinevitable change and decline.
You know, it's always mystifiedme when in the past I would tell
someone that you know maybe Iordered a brain scan for them,
but maybe someone.
We look at the brain scan andthey're kind of amazed like my
brain has shrunk.
That's the loss of neuron sizeand length I mentioned from the
(10:41):
journal article.
Depending on the degree ofatrophy of the brain, you can
actually pick it up on an MRI,pick it up on an MRI.
And now we have specialized MRItechniques like the neuroquant,
for example, that actually isdesigned to measure size and
volume changes in the brain thatwe might associate with things
like dementia, includingAlzheimer's, but it's always
(11:03):
mystified me let me get back tomy point that when I show
someone their brain scan andtell them that the brain has
shrunk, it always mystified methat they would be an older
person and they were likethey're shocked that their brain
has changed.
I mean, if you look at me, ifyou're watching this on video on
YouTube, like I have lines andcreases in my skin at now, 60
(11:29):
years old that I didn't have inmy 20s and my 30s.
So all I have to do is look inthe mirror and I can see the
effects of age on my skin.
That's obvious to me, so Ishouldn't be surprised that just
as my skin has changed and aged, so too has every organ and
every tissue in my body,including my brain.
(11:50):
And once again, just becauseaging is inevitable, it doesn't
mean that you have to roll overand play dead.
You can take steps to protect,perhaps even recapture, some of
the functions that you've lostdue to the aging process.
Let me give you an example ofhow dangerous this idea is of
accepting age-related changes asnormal.
(12:10):
How dangerous this idea is ofaccepting age-related changes as
normal.
I recently started working witha gentleman.
He's in his late 60s.
He's had brain complaints thathave seriously affected his
quality of life.
And first of all, to look athim, he looks like he's in his
late 70s easily.
He easily looks 10 years olderthan his chronological age.
But his brain shows changes onimaging that we usually don't
(12:35):
see until someone is in their80s, and he's in his late 60s.
And so not only does he haveevidence of a brain that has
aged too quickly, he'sexperiencing the loss of
functional connectivity thatallows the brain to function
well, despite the aging process.
That allows the brain tofunction well, despite the aging
process.
(12:56):
And while I look at his MRIreport and think, gosh, this
isn't cool, because we're seeingan aged brain compared to his
chronological age, his MDbasically said that this was
quote normal for his age, and tothat I call BS.
But I've heard this my entire30-odd year of career.
But that is what comes fromconfusing common with normal.
And if he just accepted whathis MD had said well, this is
(13:16):
normal he would not have evenpursued the options that might
be open to him to at the veryleast protect his brain from
things accelerating.
So the danger of attributingage-related decline simply to
the aging process is that itlulls you into a passive mindset
where you simply just acceptwhat comes and early losses in
(13:41):
functionality or health.
They get ignored or they getshrugged off as simple aging and
whatever process is involved isleft to evolve into greater and
greater states of decline thathave more negative impacts on
the quality of life and perhapsultimately, longevity.
So remember that as we age, itis common for people to stop all
(14:04):
the things that would otherwisepreserve quality of life and
would help stem the tides of age, but that doesn't have to be
you.
All right, let me get off mysoapbox and let's talk about the
next miracle molecule, thisthing called BDNF, which stands
(14:25):
for brain-derived neurotrophicfactor.
BDNF is a small protein and, bythe way, this is clearly.
It's going to be well clearlyto me.
It's going to be a two-episodesession on BDNF, so I want to
just talk a little bit aboutwhat BDNF is, what it does and
so on, and then next episodewe'll talk about some of the
research and some of the studiesthat talk about how we can have
an impact on this.
(14:45):
So BDNF it's a small protein.
It's secreted by the neurons ofthe brain and the neurons of
the peripheral nervous system.
So it's not just about thebrain, it's about the nervous
system, but we tend to think ofthe brain as being the most
important aspect of that.
And BDNF belongs to a largerfamily of proteins called
(15:05):
neurotrophins that basicallysupport brain growth and
development.
They're important regulators ofbrain circuits.
They promote what we callsynaptic and network plasticity.
That's how the brain learns.
It permanently learns differentfunctions, as well as being
involved in the process ofneurogeneration not
(15:27):
neurodegeneration, butneurogeneration, or regeneration
and neuroprotection.
So essentially, withoutadequate BDNF, things go very
bad for your brain.
But the brain isn't actuallythe only tissue that makes BDNF.
We know that immune cells makeBDNF when the brain is inflamed
(15:47):
or when it's injured, like in aconcussion, and this helps to
protect the brain and supportthe repair process.
And we also know that whennerve endings, say out in your
body, terminate into targettissues like muscle cells or
even the cells that line yourblood vessels, these target
tissues secrete BDNF as a resultof being stimulated by the
(16:12):
nerve endings, and so what thatmeans is that when your brain
sends a signal to an organ likeyour liver, uh, then your liver
makes a little bit of BDNF.
That then helps the nerveconnection remain stable and
function properly, and thatensures a strong connection and
good communication between yourbrain and your organ systems,
and when I say organ systems, Imean all of them.
(16:37):
Unfortunately, we don't have anycommercial lab tests to check
your BDNF levels, and we don'thave any way to check BDNF
specifically in your brain.
Now, some research labs canmeasure BDNF in blood for
research purposes, but justbecause we see researchers using
certain tests doesn't mean thatI, as a clinician, or you, as a
(16:57):
healthcare consumer, can accessthe same type of testing.
After all, lab testing is acommercial business venture, and
so they're only going to labs,are only going to offer labs
that a lot of people are goingto order, that they can make a
lot of money on right.
So sometimes we see testsavailable or being used in
research only and I can't goanywhere to order that, for
(17:19):
example, on any of the clientsor on myself, for example, on
any of the clients or on myself.
So some research labs canmeasure BDNF in blood, but we
don't know how the levels inblood actually relate to levels
in the brain.
So even if we had a blood test,we can't even tell where the
(17:40):
BDNF in your blood has come from, because it comes from so many
different tissues.
So blood levels, if we couldmeasure them commercially, are
the aggregate of BDNF being madeeverywhere in the body,
including the brain, and sothere's limited utility there,
even if a test was available toyou and me.
And what that leaves us with isdoing our best to understand
what BDNF is, what it does, andthen how we can improve that
(18:05):
what it does and then how we canimprove that.
So let's talk about some of thethings that are associated with
let's call them, imbalances inBDNF levels.
Number one there's anassociation between deficient or
low BDNF and neurodegenerativeand psychiatric diseases.
So we're talking about thingslike Alzheimer's as the most
common form of dementia, but wealso see low BDNF in research
(18:29):
associated with major depressivedisorder, even schizophrenia.
We also know that poor BDNFsignaling also contributes to
abnormal physiology and functionof the heart, of the blood
vessels.
It's involved in coronaryartery disease, so think about
plaque in your arteries.
But it's also dysregulated invery common things like diabetes
(18:53):
or inflammatory disorders,certain types of cancers, which
is, you know, not my thing.
There are people out there thatin functional medicine that
deal with cancers or people withcancer I don't do that kind of
work but it's also shown instudies where they look at
amplified pain perception.
(19:14):
So BDNF dysregulation can beinvolved in many different
things.
It's not just about the brain,but anywhere the brain reaches
and that's probably a good wayto think about it is that your
brain reaches all of yourtissues and cells by reaching
its tendrils, if you will, fromyour skull down through your
(19:35):
spinal canal, out into yourperipheral system, through the
peripheral nerves, so it'spretty much everywhere right.
And so we do know.
Research does confirm that BDNFlevels tend to drop as we age,
and this is critical because ofnot just what BDNF does and what
doesn't happen when we lose it,but because of where BDNF is
(19:57):
concentrated, because it's notpresent in equal amounts in all
places.
We know that BDNF is widelydistributed throughout the brain
, but it's not distributedequally in the brain either.
It's particularly wellrepresented in the part of the
brain called the hippocampuswhich is critically involved in
two things that might beimportant to you, that is,
(20:19):
learning and memory.
And the hippocampus also isinvolved in control of your
adrenal circadian rhythm.
It controls your stresschemistry.
And the hippocampus also isinvolved in control of your
adrenal circadian rhythm.
It controls your stresschemistry and the stress hormone
cortisol.
Bdnf is particularly wellrepresented, again, in what's
called the neocortex, and that'sthe part of your brain that
develops after you're born.
(20:39):
You're born with a primal,primitive brain.
That's really just aboutsurvival.
Can I go to sleep?
Can I?
Am I going to get some food?
Am I hungry?
Do I need to poop?
You know baby's brains arequite functional, but that
function is relegated basicallyto survival.
It's not like a newborn canplay a game of chess or ride a
bicycle.
All those things develop later,whether it's language or the
(21:02):
ability to control movement,appreciation of art, love, humor
, all these different things.
That's all part of this thingcalled the neocortex.
Bdnf is also concentrated in thecerebellum, which I know I've
talked about this before.
Usually, if you know anythingabout the cerebellum, you
probably think well, that'sabout balance and equilibrium,
and that is true.
(21:23):
But the cerebellum also hasdivisions that serve not just
movement and balance, but itcontrols cognition or thinking,
and it controls emotionality.
And then we have some otherstructures that you know these
names might not be familiar toyou the striatum, which is part
(21:43):
of the basal ganglia complex,another part of the brain called
the amygdala, which is, let'ssay let's call that your fear
complex, and that's a lot oftechnical terminology.
But basically all of thesestructures that I just named
house the major neural networksthat make you who you are and
serve your quality of brainfunction and your quality of
(22:05):
life.
And so what this means is, as weget ready to wind down this
introductory episode andremember, we'll come back in the
next episode and we'll talkmore about what affects BDNF and
then how we can affect BDNF butwhat this means is that when we
lose it, when we lose thatcapacity in the brain,
(22:28):
specifically, we loseneuroprotection and we allow
neurodegeneration in the braincircuits that serve core
functions, and these thingsrelate directly to quality of
life, if not longevity itself,but definitely quality of life.
So memory, cognition, theability to move, balance control
(22:48):
, thought, control, emotion andagain, that's who we are that
gosh you guys are probably tiredof hearing me say this, but who
cares about longevity if yourquality of life sucks?
Right?
You want both.
You want to live long and tolive well, and if I can't live
long, let me live well until mydays are done.
(23:09):
So, without a doubt, bdnfdeserves a place in our list of
miracle molecules, and so, again, what remains, then, is again,
we'll deal with this in the nextepisode is to talk about the
strategies and tactics that youcan use to support your own BDNF
and, in doing so, feelconfident that you are
(23:31):
harnessing the power that thishas to protect your brain and
how well your brain communicatesto all the systems, organs and
cells in your body, and sothat's exactly what we're going
to do next time, right here onthe Information Nation.
(23:53):
This podcast is for generalinformational and educational
purposes only and does notconstitute the practice of
medicine in any form or capacity.
No doctor-patient relationshipis formed.
The use of the information inthis podcast or any materials
associated with or linked to thepodcast is at the listener's
own risk.
The content of this podcast isnot intended to be a substitute
for professional andpersonalized medical advice,
(24:15):
diagnosis or treatment, andlisteners should not disregard
or delay obtaining propermedical advice when a health
condition exists and warrantsthat.
Delay obtaining proper medicaladvice when a health condition
exists and warrants that.
And finally, functionalmedicine is not intended or
designed to treat disease, butrather is a natural approach to
(24:36):
support restoring health andwellness.
The use of diet and lifestylemodifications and nutritional
supplementation is supportivefor adjunctive Care.
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