Blood Supply and Brain Function: Insights from Cardiology

Brain science and brain function cannot be considered without thinking of vascularity, blood flow, and the nutrients and oxygen carried by that good blood flow. Impaired blood flow often results in a broad array of psych symptoms that can effect affect [feelings] and cognition [thinking].

The canary in the coal mine: The heart and the brain are two of the most sensitive organs regarding proper nutrition and oxygen transfer, and both should be considered simultaneously if we are looking at a comprehensive treatment plan. [We can see the signs of sleep apnea on brain scans.]

This photo from a new book by Alexander Tsiaras author of the InVision Guide to a Healthy Heart .

Cognitive decline, memory, focus, verbalization, moods are all dependent on adequate blood supply. When we measure rCBF [regional cerebral blood flow] with SPECT, we are measuring blood flow – key point. Low blood flow can cause diminished function, and we see that functional difficulty while looking, for example, at brain injury with SPECT scans.

Anyone interested in "brain function" will very much appreciate the Heart Scan Blog and the Track Your Plaque website by William Davis, MD, visionary cardiologist. His book, Track Your Plaque [excellent refs], should be read by anyone remotely interested in brain function. When you read it, you simply can't put it down. This book pulls together the traditional and the nutritional, and, as you read it you will find very similar themes to our message here at CorePsychBlog. And…if you have any kind of a vascular/heart problem you simply must read this book.

Out of the box thinking doesn't mean forgetting the fundamentals. Our challenge is a coalescence of basic scientific *principles* with the interesting challenge of the *policies* in place that may limit our thinking –  with either brain or heart health.

So how does he track plaque? Calcification, read on…

Interestingly, Dr Davis uses remarkable advances in Electron Beam Tomography [EBT], an evolved CT scan, to accurately measure plaque, and then later observe plaque retreat following comprehensive medical and nutritional intervention strategies – sound familiar? Read his book, it could significantly help you with your overall brain function. This excerpt from Appendix A regarding Scientific Evidence:

"Calcified plaque generally begins to be detectable in men beyond age 35 years, with a rapid increase in prevalence over age 40. In women [increased scores on tomographic review] generally appear beyond age 45 with the same rapid increase in prevalence at age 55.

The reproducibility of calcium measurement by EBT has previously been questioned…, but with improved scanning algorithms reproducibility has been improved."

The interesting question: If we are forming plaques at 35 yo, then how does that diminished vascular function contribute to the array of psych symptoms and SPECT changes we see in our everyday psych practices?

So much of our medical training is focused on the acute conditions from
the physical – heart attack – to the mental – psychotic break. But if
we think about chronic, slow deterioration, either in the brain or the
heart, we can catch the problem before the catastrophe and diminish the crisis and the costs.

With the new technologies prevention is highly probable. And as Dr Davis so accurately points out: what we are learning from scans can be transposed to the general population without the necessity of scanning everyone.

If we stay with the scientific evidence, the principles of function, perhaps we can contribute to a change in the policies that limit prevention. Interesting thought…