Neuro inflammation: The silent brain cell killer – Part I

Symptoms of neuro-inflammation

Research showed that other symptoms such as chronic fatigue, muscle pain, fibromyalgia, depression, and psychological complaints. Are usually very common symptoms with neuroinflammation. The symptoms listed below are just a part of all them:

• Brain fog;
• Unclear thoughts;
• Low brain endurance;
• Slow and varying mental speeds;
• Loss of brain function after trauma;
• Brain fatigue and poor mental focus after meals;
• Brain fatigue facilitated by systemic inflammation;
• Brain fatigue facilitated by chemicals, odors and pollutants.

Cause of Alzheimer’s disease

Neuro-inflammation is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Not so long ago, we understood that chronic neuroinflammation is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. This is why the disease got its new name “type 3 diabetes”. It was always thought that the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaque were the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. But after thorough research, it has been found that the tangles and beta-amyloid only occur after chronic neuroinflammation. So they are a consequence of it. Neuroinflammation causes so much more damage in the total body, but this is something we are only just discovering. It for example also plays a role in MS, Parkinson’s. But also depression and OCD, but in so many more physical issues. Therefore, instead of cognitive therapy combined with medication, it is advisable to develop new therapies that address the cause of all these symptoms.

Starts in the gut

Neuro-inflammation also starts in the gut! There are four stages in the development of neuroinflammation:

• Inflammation in the intestine is the first stage, which is caused by immune reactions. This to intruders such as wrong foods, medications, pesticides, bacteria, fungi and toxins. Due to these inflammatory processes against these substances, the protein alpha-synuclein changes shape, which is normally not a problem. As long as the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in the gut are totally balanced, this protein cannot escape from the intestinal environment to cause further damage. If there is a dysbiosis (imbalance) then this can lead to a leaky gut. Because the tight junctions become damaged, the alpha-synuclein can escape. Read our article about the leaky gut. It then migrates unhindered through the entire central nervous system to the brain. Because the body does not recognize the abnormal protein, an inflammatory reaction follows, which eventually becomes chronic.
• In the second stage, the brain stem becomes inflamed and early Parkinson’s symptoms such as sleep disturbance and depression develop.
• In the third stage, the dopamine-producing cells become inflamed, which explains the typical motor behavior of Parkinson’s disease.
• In the fourth stage, the executive brain areas also become inflamed. Which causes cognitive problems such as restlessness, severe memory loss etc. I have treated many patients with ADHD in combination with neuroinflammation. Because here too there is a deviation in the functioning of the executive brain functions.

If you follow this process with MRIs in patients with Parkinson’s, you can clearly see that the inflammation precedes the symptoms.

Low grade inflammation

All symptoms creating neuroinflammation start with a low grade inflammation in an intestinal environment and dysbiosis from which a leaky gut develops. This gives rise to neuroinflammation and subsequently deregulates the total gut-brain axis (GBA axis). The gut-brain axis (GBA) consists of bidirectional communication between the central and the enteric nervous system, linking emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions.

Low grade inflammation can be detected by testing various inflammation parameters from blood. These parameters are then permanently slightly elevated and cause the breakdown of the intestinal wall and other tissues. Normally, the gatekeeper (blood-brain barrier) protects the brain from the influx of toxins. However, its function is reduced by the influx of cytokines (inflammatory substances). The reduction of the integral functions of the blood-brain barrier allows proteins and other substances to migrate effortlessly along the nerves and into the brain. In the process, they leave a trail of inflammation.

Microglia

The microglia start to produce reactive oxygen particles. This inflammation creates the next step, the activation of immune cells in the brain such as microglia, and these in turn start producing reactive oxygen particles (ROS). These particles then cause damage to the several brain areas. Then various cytokines, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), cause the inflammation to worsen and spread. Cytokines are signaling proteins that help to control inflammation in your body. They allow your immune system to mount a defense if germs or the other abovementioned substances that can make you sick enter your body. Too many cytokines can lead to excess inflammation and conditions like autoimmune diseases.

The presence of all these cytokines prevents this microglia, who has become hyperactive, from phagocytizing properly. When pathogens are introduced directly into the brain or cross the blood-brain barrier, the microglia must be able to react immediately. This to prevent inflammation and destroy the pathogens before they damage brain tissue. Due to the ongoing inflammatory reactions and the cytokines involved, they no longer clear amyloid, for example. Both healthy people and people with Alzheimer’s disease produce amyloid, which forms the plaque commonly seen in Alzheimer’s disease. The plaque continues to accumulate as long as the low-grade inflammation remains active. And if it is not inhibited or corrected at the base of the gut, the disease continues to progress.

Deregulation of the GBA axis

Deregulation of the GBA axis can occur as a result of wrong lifestyle, aging, stress, autoimmunity, and even brain trauma. The latter in particular is often overlooked by doctors. If this deregulation were to be worked on specifically in the case of brain traumas, and thus neuroinflammation could be prevented, a great deal of damage from this trauma could be reduced.

Brain trauma and epigenetics

I myself suffered serious brain trauma after a horrific accident, my brains were severely damaged. Because I have worked on this carefully and extensively with my knowledge of epigenetics, I have been able to regain much of my lost brain capacity. Trust me, I couldn’t even type one sentence without missing a number of words, and I was certain that I had written them. I hardly could speak, and I had no short-term memory. Every day I got up without knowing who I was and what I wanted in life. I needed to live in total isolation because of tremendous over stressed brain cells. I even had no function pituitary gland anymore. So since I gained my health back, (that took a while, but here I am) by epigenetics, here lies a great missed opportunity for many suffering with brain trauma.

Epigenetic environment

Medications, antibiotics, toxins and unfavorable microbes, viruses and bacteria, wrong diet, lack of exercise, air pollution and passive smoking, for example, can put a lot of pressure on the GBA axis and thus damage the intestinal microbiome, undermining your health considerably. Of course, inheritance and genetic susceptibility play a role, but only in combination with the quality of the epigenetic environment. That means that no matter what genetic inheritance we have.

If we influence our diet, exercise, stress, social contacts, emotions and a whole range of other epigenetic factors in a healthy way without medication, the genes don’t have to develop a negative expression. That is the beauty of epigenetics! In many cases, we no longer fall victim to our own negative genetics, and we can take matters into our own hands. Good treatment and prevention always starts with the immune system in the gut, even in normally neurodegenerative diseases that are difficult to treat such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis, but also in brain traumas. It should be noted that these diseases/traumas require early intervention, but improvement is always possible as a result.

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