Have you heard of toxic or acquired brain injury (TTBI or ABI)?
I’ve already lost one family member to brain trauma. Subsequently this subject has a huge draw for me. When it recently happened again to another family member, I went into full blown practitioner mode. This time I would not let it play out as before. We know so much more, and there are so many ways to intervene now. The earlier the better of course.
TBIs are injuries to the brain caused by an external force. ABIs are a broader category of brain injuries; they include injuries to the brain caused either by an external force or as a result of stroke or other illness that affects the brain. Chemical/Toxic (TTBI) brain injury can be caused by medication, viruses, high levels of inflammation, heavy metals, chemical exposure, drug and alcohol abuse.
Information on toxic brain injury is not easy to find. You have to be calculated with the search terms you use. And I suspect for good reason, as it is often linked to pharmaceutical use. Look at this stat: “After adjusting for sex, age and mental illnesses (not including substance use disorder), people who had experienced a drug toxicity event were 15.3 times more likely to have a brain injury than people who had not experienced a drug toxicity event. [1]”
Given that alcohol abuse can lead to acquired brain injury you’d think that addiction programs would be geared towards brain healing, not just curating a new lifestyle for the addict.
Leaving a chemical brain injury untreated puts you at risk for the same issues as a normal TBI. Predisposition to cognitive dysfunction, Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
It makes me wonder how many of our homeless population are dealing with ABI induced cognitive dysfunction and are simply incapable of helping themselves? But I digress…
What can we do for ABI?
In the short term we want to look at hormones. With a TTBI or ABI you may have reduced levels of pituitary hormones ACTH (leading to low cortisol), TSH (leading to lower thyroid hormones), Growth hormone (leading to decreased quality of sleep, recovery and lower IGF-1), LH (leading to lower estrogen and testosterone). Hormone replacement and use of items that support growth hormone can be beneficial.
I look at neurotransmitters as well. Typically we see high glutamate and low serotonin. Sometimes the other neurotransmitters are dysregulated too. This explains the depression and anxiety associated with TBI.
You want to support the blood brain barrier with nourishing whole foods; including plenty of healthy fats. A Mediterranean diet is a good template.
Having a TBI or TTBI can impact the gut of course, which we support with probiotics, prebiotics or herbs if there is an overgrowth. You want to make sure the person is absorbing the nutrients from their food. They need every last drop for healing.
And hyperbaric oxygen is hands down one of the best things you can do for a brain injury. If you haven’t already go back through my old blog posts and read Mona’s story about her TBI recovery.
Read more on the subject:
Drug toxicity vs. Brain Injury in BC Stats: https://www.catie.ca/catie-news/researchers-examine-links-between-drug-toxicity-and-brain-injury-in-british-columbia
Man shares his story: https://www.biausa.org/brain-injury/community/personal-stories/my-neurotoxic-brain-injury-story-1
Chemicals that cause toxic TBI:
Marshall TM, Dardia GP, Colvin KL, Nevin R, Macrellis J. Neurotoxicity Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury, Blast, Chemical, Heavy Metal and Quinoline Drug Exposure. Altern Ther Health Med. 2019 Jan;25(1):28-34. PMID: 30982784.
Breggin PR. Psychiatric drug-induced Chronic Brain Impairment (CBI): implications for long-term treatment with psychiatric medication. Int J Risk Saf Med. 2011;23(4):193-200. doi: 10.3233/JRS-2011-0542. PMID: 22156084.
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/alcohol/risks-effects-dangers/brain
