What I’m Reading This Month: Aluminum in the brain, mercury in Great Lakes, exercise for ADHD, and Vitamin B for Schizophrenia

The sheer volume of health, wellness, and medical news and commentary available on the internet can be overwhelming. Every month, get a taste of what integrative medicine leader Dr. John Gannage finds interesting (and digestible) on the web.

1. Dow Chemical Wants Farmers to Keep Using a Pesticide Linked to Autism & ADHD: “In 2014, the first and most comprehensive look at the environmental causes of autism and developmental delay, known as the CHARGE study, found that the nearby application of agricultural pesticides greatly increases the risk of autism. Women who lived less than a mile from fields where chlorpyrifos was sprayed during their second trimesters of pregnancy had their chances of giving birth to an autistic child more than triple. And it was just one of dozens of recent studies that have linked even small amounts of fetal chlorpyrifos exposure to neurodevelopmental problems, including ADHD, intelligence deficits, and learning difficulties.”

Further reading: Protect our Children’s Brains From Chlorpyrifos: “Whether they’re Democrats, Republicans, environmentalists or Breitbart enthusiasts, no one wants their children hurt. And if we ignore the evidence on chlorpyrifos – and turn our backs on environmental regulation — it’s kids who will suffer.”

2. High Levels of Aluminum in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients: It makes sense to be aware of all sources of lifetime exposures to aluminium, starting from birth, as a preventative measure. The devastation of a disease like Alzheimer’s has latent onset, decades later.

3. Exercise for ADHD: What we’re observing is “Activity Deficit Disorder” in many, a close relative of “Nature Deficit Disorder”. Research supports physical exercise and time outdoors for children (at a green camp, for example) with ADHD.

4. Fecal Transplant Improves Autism Symptoms: “While many people are aware of the behavioural symptoms associated with autism, probably not so many realize that [children with autism] often also have gastrointestinal problems. With that in mind, scientists at the University of Arizona recently conducted a study in which a group of 18 autistic children received fecal transplants from donors with healthy gastrointestinal systems. Not only did the procedure help to ‘rebalance’ their gut flora, but it also improved their behaviour.”

5. How Tom Brady Stays In Shape: “For most of the year, Brady is a vegan. In the cold winter months, he adds some lean meat to his diet. A typical day’s menu this time of year might include a breakfast smoothie—made with almond milk, a scoop of protein, seeds, nuts and a banana—a midmorning homemade protein bar, sliced up chicken breast on a salad with whole grains and legumes for lunch, a second smoothie as a snack and a dinner of quinoa with greens.” Sounds good to me.

6. Changes in Blood-Brain Barrier, Intestinal Permeability in those with Autism: “This is the first time anyone has shown that an altered blood-brain barrier and impaired intestinal barrier might both play a role in neuroinflammation in people with ASD. It has already been shown that ASD kids have an altered composition of gut microbial communities. If we can figure out what is required or missing, then maybe we can come up with a treatment that might be able to improve some of the behavioral issues and/or the gastrointestinal symptoms.”

7. Mercury Rises in Great Lakes Wildlife: Key concepts: the air “over there” doesn’t stay there; global warming converts mercury in freshwater to its more toxic form; humans are at the top of the mercury-contaminated food chain.

“Mercury travels the globe, and as coal has taken off in places such as Asia over the past 20 years so, too, has the atmospheric export of toxic mercury. Those additions have offset coal reductions in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, climate change is altering how legacy chemicals are stored, transformed and transported in land, water and air.

Warmer water more quickly converts mercury to its more toxic form—methyl mercury. This form also more quickly accumulates in fish and birds, with each step of the food chain more contaminated than the previous.”

8. $1 Million+ Tainted Medical Marijuana Destroyed Yet another example where allowing industry to police itself, without government oversight and regulations, is bad for the health consumer and public. #BuyerBeware

9. B Vitamins for Schizophrenia: “The first meta-analysis of its kind reviews data from 18 clinical trials to conclude that B vitamins have a positive effect on schizophrenia symptoms. This builds on existing evidence of other food-derived supplements, such as certain amino-acids, [being] beneficial for people with schizophrenia. These new findings also fit with latest research examining how multi-nutrient treatments can reduce depression and other disorders.” Validation for nutrient therapy in mental health conditions!

Still hungry for information? Find previous month’s picks here.