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Extreme sports join football in repetitive brain trauma fallout For more information on improving brain function, click on to sdbraincenter.com The suicide of BMX legend Dave Mirra this year has forced an uncomfortable topic to surface — many extreme sport athletes, and the adolescents and weekend warriors they inspire, face a higher risk of long term brain disorders due to repetitive crashes and hits to the head. Suicide rates, for instance, are three times higher in people who have suffered concussions. Other symptoms include mood disorders, bouts of rage, sensitivity to light and sound, fatigue, poor concentration, memory loss, depression,...

Stress can cause PMS, menopause problems, and more For more information on improving brain function, click on to sdbraincenter.com It’s not easy being female — the hormonal ups and downs each month through puberty and then menopause can range from mildly irritating to downright debilitating. Although many, if not most, women suffer from some degree of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), the extreme health and mood imbalances associated with PMS and menopause are a sign your system is out of whack, most likely because of stress. Hormone balance is very sensitive to stress, inflammation, toxins, poor diet, sleep deprivation, lack of exercise,...

Why eye contact over stimulates people with autism For more information on improving brain function, click on to sdbraincenter.com One of the hallmark signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the avoidance of eye contact with others. This is typically interpreted as social avoidance or indifference. But the truth is, people with autism need social connection just like the rest of us. It’s just that things such as eye contact cause their brains to short circuit from too much activity. People with autism say eye contact is stressful and uncomfortable, and some even say it “burns.” Harvard Medical School researchers...

Study shows diet tames Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism For more information on improving brain function, click on to sdbraincenter.com A recent study showed a low-carbohydrate, whole foods diet low in inflammatory foods significantly decreases thyroid antibodies — the marker for autoimmune thyroid disease, or Hashimoto’s. Hashimoto’s occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys the thyroid gland; it is the cause of about 90 percent of hypothyroid cases. This study is further evidence you can profoundly influence autoimmune Hashimoto’s through diet and lifestyle interventions. In the three-week study, almost 200 people with Hashimoto’s were divided into two groups. One group followed the...

Study confirms autoimmune paleo (AIP) diet works For more information on improving brain function, click on to sdbraincenter.com A recent study confirmed what functional medicine has long since known — the autoimmune paleo (AIP) diet is highly successful for managing chronic health disorders. The first-of-its-kind study showed the majority of participants quickly achieved and maintained remission of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis on the AIP diet. A number of participants were even able to discontinue drug therapies. Many people follow the AIP diet to manage not just Crohn’s but also chronic pain, Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, irritable bowel syndrome, skin rashes such...