Diagnosis Dilemma – Looking at it Another Way

There seems to be a growing number of interventions that use the brain’s plasticity as their basis. When brains were found to have plasticity (grow new neuronal connections and have the ability to repair cell damage), things radically changed in the world of neurology.

It hasn’t been too many years ago that scientists, and therefore the public, believed that you had a limited number of brain cells. Sure you have many more than you were actually using, but in the 1970s and 1980s what college student wasn’t warned that drinking too heavily could kill off all your brain cells…and those don’t grow back. You are born with the number of brain cells you have all your life – WRONG!

Well, neurology isn’t that simple, but the truth is that brain cells do grow and damaged areas do have the possibility of healing. Study after study of stroke victims showed both that areas repair themselves and that the brain re-routes functions to other areas of the brain.

Because of brain plasticity, neurology (aka the final frontier) has skyrocketed. Scientists are actively researching neuronal growth and what enhances it and enables the repair. Some of this research has translated into interventions. Some of these interventions remain “controversial” depending on who you ask. But for parents of children with complex diagnoses and many challenges, the concept of being able to affect a neurological or biochemical change in a brain that’s out of balance is not only appealing, it is crucial.

One of the things that seems to make the most sense is using imaging tools to “look inside the brain” and figure out what is going on. Regardless of the diagnoses, using an imaging tool deserves some thought. PET scans, SPECT scans, fMRIs, QEEGs, all are tools that attempt to look inside your head. Some look at brain structure, some at the electrical impulses/brain waves. Some at the brain’s structure, but as it’s actually functioning on a task. And as the technological know-how increases, each imaging tool provides us more and more valuable information, including what medications might be most successful (taking some guesswork out of things there), and what areas of the brain are truly impacted.

And the interventions that these imaging tools provide information about are interventions that make sense. If there are ways to exercise the brain to actually change it’s functioning, to encourage its formation of new pathways, those interventions are worth considering. Sensory integration therapy, neurofeedback and neurodevelopmental exercises all work on this theory.

The same is true biochemically. If you can alter the brain’s chemistry by medications, it is equally viable to think you can alter it by changing other factors in the body’s system that impact the brain chemistry. Researchers have found that much of this chemistry is actually connected to the digestive system and what happens specifically in the colon. This is where serotonin is produced. So it stands to reason that diet can have a great impact on the brain. Explains why warm milk makes you sleepy in a very simplified example. The other thing to understanding what’s happening biochemically is to understand how your immune system interfaces with your digestive system and your brain chemistry. The three systems have been found to work together, therefore a balance is needed. If your immune system is battling allegens, it changes your biochemistry, which ultimately affects your brain. This reminds me of the fascinating studies I’ve read about the numbers of mothers with auto-immune diseases, like allegies, asthma or lupus, and the higher likelihood their children will have ADD or ADHD. Hmm…makes you think.

And there are other interventions worth exploring that don’t fit neatly in to a neurological or biochemical definition. Things like the hyperbaric oxygen treatments, for example. And the research there shows that the increase in oxygen reduces inflammation and promotes healing. So if neuronal damage exists, that is one area in the body the increased amount of oxygen works on.

Then there are interventions like cranial sacral therapy – a therapy I admittedly know little about. Yet one of which I’ve heard remarkable things.

These imaging tools and interventions are still outside the “norm” in many medical circles. Some doctors openly embrace them, while others criticize their usage as wasting the patient’s time and, in some cases, as being harmful.

So what’s a parent to do?

Your homework! The information is overwhelming and ever-evolving, but it’s vital you research it and decide for yourself. You have to weigh out the diagnoses you receive, the interventions the professionals recommend and decide the best course of action. Having a professional (or professionals) you trust makes it easier. But taking one doctor’s word unilaterally isn’t always the wisest move. Neurology/psychiatry/psychology is a field where asking for a second opinion is a great idea. Especially for complex kids with alphabet soup as their diagnoses.

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