Brain Stuff

I've been looking at loads of Xrays and MRI's since I've been here in India, and yesterday I saw an interesting case... actually, I saw about 10 cases yesterday that would qualify as highly unusual, but this one stood out.

I first met Mr. Shah in 2005 on my first trip to India. He is the best friend of my partner here, so I have spent a lot of time with him in my 3 trips here. Shahbhai (Shah-bay), as they call him, is the quintessential businessman: a bonafide real estate mogul, builder of highrises, and owner of 3 factories which employ over 3000 people. His cel phone never stops ringing and it is hardly away from his right ear for more than 2 minutes at a time. He is the most serious, business minded, and some might say...humorless... people I have ever met. I called him Spockbhai once... joke didn't translate too well. Swell guy though.

Shahbhai had a stroke 2 years ago from a big clot that got stuck in a cerebral artery on the right side, and this was clearly visible on the MRI of his brain that he got right afterwards. The left-sided paralysis he had is gone, and he has improved very much with chiropractic care. Before I adjusted him this time, I sent him for a follow-up MRI of the brain (costs about 42 USD!) to see if the clot was still there. Thankfully the new films showed it was totally gone, but with some scar tissue left.

But what struck me was this... his left hemisphere was at least 20% larger than his right.

I checked all the films, old and new, and it was like this on all of them, so it wasn't atrophy from after the stroke. On the radiologist's report, they called it age-related atrophy... he's 60... but it was clearly not from a normal aging process...

These are the questions I had...

The left brain typically controls logical, linear thinking while the right brain handles creative expression. Knowing Spockbhai's tendencies for 100% focus on business and finances, I wondered if this was from decades of exercising the left hemisphere and neglect of the emotional side?

Or the other chilling thought was that it was from the constant celphone use? ( I asked, and healways holds it to his right ear. ) If anyone could cook his cortex with a celphone, he'd be a top contender for sure. He'll take a business call even while his guru/living god is talking. For real.

I know this is pure speculation here, but this is what I wrote down on a prescription pad for him before he left.

"Drink lots more panni (water.)

More art, music, dancing and poetry.

Less celphone.

Live long and prosper."

Can't hurt...

Somewhere Bruce Lipton is laughing...and/or crying

Or maybe a combination of hysterical laughing/crying...

Here is an article, released today, that essentially says what cellular biologist Bruce Lipton has been saying for years: our genes are not the primary controllers of our destiny, but are themselves controlled by signals from the environment: i.e. what we eat, what we think, how we move, etc... But OF COURSE they HAVE to mention the great new drug therapies they can come up with to exploit this research, blah blah blah. Yes, it makes perfect sense in one sentence to say that our genes are controlled by "what we eat or how active we are", and in the next sentence to say that this can possibly be the basis for a revolutionary new drug treatment...

Dynamic Changes In DNA Linked To Human Diabetes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901122627.htm

ScienceDaily (2009-09-02) -- New research may give new meaning to the adage "You are what you eat." The DNA isolated from the muscles of people with diabetes bears chemical marks not found in those who respond normally to rising blood sugar levels, according to the study. The epigenetic marks in question are specifically found on a gene that controls the amount of fuel, in the form of glucose or lipids, that cells burn.

Select quotes from article (italics added):

--"Those changes rapidly reprogram the gene's activity without altering the underlying DNA sequence at all. They suggest a way that environmental factors—what we eat or how active we are—may perhaps influence our genes, for better or for worse."

{Wow! What does this mean for the billions spent on the human genome project?}

--"It's a much more dynamic process than we thought," Zierath said. "The genetic causes of diabetes are important, but this shows us that epigenetic changes, which take place on top of our genes, can alter our physiology in critical ways."

{Yay! Keep going!}

----"The researchers say they don't yet know whether these epigenetic changes are reversible, but they do have evidence that they might be prevented."

{Prevention? Really?}

--"In a broader sense, the discovery shows that we are not "victims of our genes," she adds. "It's exciting because there may be ways for us to lower disease risk if physical activity or other lifestyle factors can positively influence our epigenome and improve metabolism."

{ How brave to admit this in public! Tell us more!}

--"There's room for this in terms of drug discovery," Zierath said.

{Doh!}

Um... why not focus on changing the "signals from the environment?"

Just a thought...

CLRT explained by Vibrational Biophysics Lecture

This slideshow from Michael Soloman Morgan does a great job of laying the

groundwork for the fundamental scientific basis of CLRT.

Yes it is lengthy, but equal parts delicious and nutritious.

He brings together all of energy medicine's greatest hits:

biophotons, frequencies, the crystalline living matrix,

wave theory of information and biological laser theory. Dig it.

Vibrational Biophysics Iqqm Morgan

View more presentations from solarsonic.

New Biophoton Study in PLoS

Imaging of Ultraweak Spontaneous Photon Emission from Human Body Displaying Diurnal Rhythm

Department of Electronics and Intelligent Systems, Tohoku Institute of Technology, Sendai, Japan, 2 Department of Systems Biology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto, Japan, 3 Department of Brain Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

Abstract

The human body literally glimmers. The intensity of the light emitted by the body is 1000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eyes. Ultraweak photon emission is known as the energy released as light through the changes in energy metabolism. We successfully imaged the diurnal change of this ultraweak photon emission with an improved highly sensitive imaging system using cryogenic charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. We found that the human body directly and rhythmically emits light. The diurnal changes in photon emission might be linked to changes in energy metabolism.

Interesting quotes from article:

• In all images, photon emission intensity from the face was higher than from the body. Moreover, photon emission intensity from the face was not homogeneous: the central area around the mouth and the cheeks was higher than the lateral area and the orbits. Furthermore, the photon emission intensity on the face and upper body appeared to display time-dependent changes. 
• Ultraweak biophoton emission was completely different from thermographic images showing surface temperature (Fig.1I). High photon emission were detected from the cheeks, followed by the upper neck and the forehead, while high temperature was detected in the supraclavicular lateral neck region, from which photon emission was low. 
• No significant correlation of daily photon intensity and temperature was found, and the dissimilarity between photon emission and thermal image suggest that the diurnal rhythm of photon emission is not a consequence of a change of temperature or microcirculation.

Link to full article: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006256

CLRT reduces Sciatica by 90% in about 90 seconds!

This is a cool case I had a few months ago.

"J", a 36 year old African American male and former college basketball player, presented in my office with severe sciatica, rated 9/10, after an accident at work three nights before. He had been driving a front-end loader around the warehouse where he works, and ended up driving it into a 3 foot ditch because of poor visibility. Immediately after this sudden drop and jolt, he felt severe pain shooting from his low back all the way down his right leg to his big toe, and from that point on, he was unable to walk upright at all. He got no relief from sitting, lying down, OTC meds, or the Lortabs prescribed by the company medical doctor. He was set to see an orthopedist in three weeks (!) as the worker's comp process dictated, but "J" decided to come see me first as I had previously helped him get rid of his migraines.

Upon chiropractic, orthopedic and neurological examination, "J" had all the "usual" positive findings of sciatica-- twisted/posterior L5 on X-ray, extreme tenderness, edema and heat in lumbosacral junction, decreased sensation in calf area, positive straight leg raiser test, positive Braggard's, Valsalva's and Kemp's Tests, absent Achilles DTR, inability to squat and rise, etc-- all in all, it was certainly not looking good for his L5/S1 disc.

Now I am certainly not squeamish at all about adjusting around hot discs-- I do it all the time, although carefully and specifically, mind you-- but I knew I better do something to quiet this down first before I go jumping on L5 from P to A with the drop piece. Soooo, I placed some SOT blocks under his hips to to elevate the pelvis slightly, and began to palpate for the L5 cranial reflex point on the top of his head. I immediately found a relatively massive depression in the space between the L5 and the S1 reflex points (the disc point?!?!) which was extremely tender to even a light touch. I pulled out my trusty pocket red laser (200mW) and began to light up this spot.

After a few seconds, his breathing slowed down significantly and I could see that the lower back muscles were not guarding nearly as much. After half a minute or so, I stopped, re-palpated the cranial depression, and "J" reported that the tenderness was about 50% better. I rechecked his lumbar spine for tenderness over L5, and he reported this was also about 50% better. Not bad for 30 seconds. So I went back to lasering the L5 point, but on a hunch, I switched to my 30mW green laser for its calming effect. Another 30 seconds of this, and then some quick passes on the gastroc, soleus, psoas and QL cranial reflex pathways for another 30 seconds,... and I got him up on his feet.

It was obvious something was different. For one, he was smiling. For another, he was able to stand fully upright, not bent over at the waist anymore. On his own, he squatted down and came up instantly. This too was very different than before. He actually jumped in the air a couple of times, landing on his toes. "Hold on there, fella. Just wait a second before you go doing all that..." I said. "But the pain is gone, Doc."

"Gone?" I was a little surprised... I mean I knew it would work, I just didn't know how well.

"Well 90% anyways." He reported all the sensation had returned in his legs and feet and now just his low back was "a little sore." I had him walk around the office for a bit to see if it quickly returned. It did not.

So I got him back on the table, rechecked all the ortho/neuro tests, which were now negative, gave him some easy adjustments with the drop table (mostly out of habit) and sent him on his way. When I saw him again in 3 days, he reported remaining about 90% better. I monitored him twice a week for the next 3 weeks and even with his 12 hour shifts of heavy lifting in the warehouse, he only reported some soreness and stiffness in his low back through this period--no sciatica, radiculopathy or neurological symptoms of any kind. And "J" had missed only one day of work.

A few days after his appointment with the orthopedist, I got a sciatica referral from that group.

London Calling... for CLRT!

It's official! This fall we'll be translating the CLRT manual into... English!

The first international seminar on CLRT featuring Dr. Nick Wise will be held at the London Gatwick Hilton on Saturday, October 24th, 2009. Cost is £120 and the 7 hours will contribute to CPD points. There will be some great specials on my advanced kit and lasers at the seminar, so sign up quickly as seating is limited. Keep your mince pies peeled for more details coming soon!

For registration and more info, contact Gill Jacobs at gill@lightforhealth.co.uk.

CLRT RCT

Reduction of musculoskeletal pain with Cranial Laser Reflex Technique (CLRT): A randomized controlled trial using pressure algometry

Nicholas A. Wise, D.C.

Background: Cranial Laser Reflex Technique (CLRT) is a novel method for reducing musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction, involving a brief laser stimulation of a specific cranial reflex point. Every major muscle group and each spinal segment has a corresponding cranial reflex point or line that appears to be linked to its tensional/ positional information. These make up a powerful cranial microsystem that is little known outside of a small segment of the chiropractic profession.

Objective: To compare the short-term effects of CLRT on painful musculoskeletal points with those of a sham treatment using pressure algometry. 

Design: Double-blinded randomized-controlled trial. 

Methods: 57 volunteers with various musculoskeletal pains gave informed consent and were randomly allocated to either the CLRT treatment or sham group. Painful trigger points and/or tender spinal joints were found in each patient, and using a digital algometer, the pain/pressure threshold (PPT) was determined and a pain rating was given using a numerical pain scale from 0-10. CLRT or sham CLRT was performed with a 40 mW, 840nm laser, for a maximum of 60 seconds to the appropriate cranial reflex(es). The initial pressure (PPT) was immediately delivered to the same spot, and the pain rated again.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference in pain scores between CLRT and sham groups immediately following treatment. There was some improvement reported in 95% of the treatment group, with 59% reporting a change of 2 points or higher. In the control group, 18% reported an improvement, none of them greater than 1 point. The average change in pain scores in the treatment group was 2.6 points (p = 0.000), while the average improvement in the control group was 0.037 points (p = 0.4). The rest of the controls reported no change or a slight worsening on re-testing. Since the mean starting pain rating was 5.4, a decrease of 2.6 represents a 48% decrease in pain.

Conclusion: CLRT is an effective short-term treatment for musculoskeletal pain. Future studies will be needed to show efficacy over longer periods of time, as well as the effect on additional outcome measurements, like range of motion, quality of life, and EMG measurements of muscle tone.