Holistic Psychiatry Podcast Courtney Snyder MD

Because Alzheimer’s starts before the onset of symptoms and because having almost any psychiatric condition appears to raise our vulnerability, many of the tools mentioned here relate to other brain symptoms and conditions as well.
“What we call Alzheimer's disease is actually a protective response to a wide variety of insults to the brain: inflammation, insulin resistance, toxins, infections, and inadequate levels of nutrients, hormones, and growth factors.” - Dale Bredesen, MD  (The End of Alzheimer’s Program: The First Protocol to Enhance Cognition and Reverse Decline at Any Age)
In this newsletter, I’ll discuss:
* Medications used in mainstream medicine
* Lifestyle and functional medicine approaches to preventing and treating Alzheimer’s
* Feeding the brain - The ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting
* Exercising the body and brain
* Sleep and sleep apnea
* Hormonal deficiencies and dysregulation
* Oral health
* Toxicity, depletion of antioxidants and oxidative stress
* Brain inflammation 
If you have any questions or comments (or topic suggestions),…
If you know someone who may benefit,…
Have a great week,
Courtney
Resources mentioned:
* Precision Medicine Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease: Successful Pilot Project
* Reversing Alzheimer’s: The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health by Dr. Heather Sandison
* The End of Alzheimer’s by Dale Bredesen, MD
* Walsh Research Institute
Previous newsletters/podcast episodes mentioned:
* Alzheimer’s: Factors We Have Control Over
* Regulating Blood Sugar For the Brain
* Intermittent Fasting & the Brain
* Exercise & the Brain
* Oxidative Stress & the Brain
* Lowering Brain Inflammation



This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courtneysnydermd.substack.com/subscribe

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, meaning it involves the death of brain cells and the eventual loss of brain tissue. The brain changes leading to Alzheimer’s dementia begin twenty years before the onset of symptoms. This is important because the emerging research and clinical experience in functional medicine suggest that most contributing factors can be impacted. In this newsletter and podcast episode, I’ll address:
* The incidence of Alzheimer’s
* What happens in the brain
* The course of the illness
* Biomarkers used for diagnosis, even prior to the onset of symptoms
* Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s
* Risks
* The role of the APOe4 gene
* The role of insulin resistance in the brain
* The role of oxidative stress
* The role of inflammation
* Evidence of a fungal presence
* How these factors may be working together
In the next episode, I’ll discuss mainstream treatment, as well as functional/integrative/holistic approaches to target blood sugar regulation, oxidative stress, inflammation and even the presence of mold and candida.
Feel free to add to the discussion with your questions or comments.
If you know someone who may benefit from this information, please consider sharing.
Have a good week,
Courtney

Mentioned Resources:
* Alzheimer’s Association Facts & Figures
* Meet the Switching Mice: They Flip Their Glia APOE4 to APOE2
* Mold & Candida in the Brain (free)
Other Related Newsletters:
* High Copper, Metallothionein, Cancer & Mental Health (paid)
* Lowering Brain Inflammation (free)
* Regulating Blood Sugar For the Brain (paid)

Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courtneysnydermd.substack.com/subscribe

In this newsletter and podcast episode, I share the simple yet powerful tool of intermittent fasting. Here, I discuss:
* The types of intermittent fasting with a focus on “time restricted eating,” in which fasting is extended to 12-16hours a day (from the more typical 8-10 hours).
* Why it makes good sense from an evolutionary standpoint.
* What it has to teach us about our metabolism and our brain’s use of energy.
* The health conditions it is has been shown to be beneficial for.
* The many mechanism by which is impacts the brain.
* My experience with intermittent fasting.
* When fasting can become problematic.
If you have experience with intermittent fasting (or questions), please consider adding to the discussion.
Have a great week,
Courtney
P.S. For paid subscribers watch out for a midweek post on other ways we can work with our body’s metabolism and rhythms to improve blood glucose regulation, which is particularly important when it comes to brain health.
Additional Resources:
* The Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Brain and Cognitive Function
* Intermittent Fasting as a Potential Therapeutic Instrument for Major Depression Disorder: A Systematic Review of Clinical and Preclinical Studies
Related Content
* Exercise & the Brain - 10 Ways Exercise Improves Our Mood, Lowers Anxiety & Protects Our Brain.
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courtneysnydermd.substack.com/subscribe

My purpose in this video is to remind us to protect our mental health, our physical health and our relationships this election season.
We have a natural impulse to pay attention to danger. News networks and social media take advantage and profit from this instinct.
Here in the US, we are facing five months of what can be highly stressful. Some will have an increase in anxiety, depression, anger and addictive behaviors including news addiction and internet addiction.
If we care about lowering toxic exposures, lowering our stress response and thus inflammation, then these next five months offer a great opportunity. If we care about setting healthy boundaries between ourselves and the negative or self-serving energy of others, these next five months are a great time to strengthen our boundaries.
In this video, I discuss:
* What is happening in our body and brain when we engage with fear-inducing content.
* Media literacy to remind us what we easily forget when we’re under the influence of media that aims to get and keep our attention.
* How the echo chamber of news and social media is rewiring our brains, and reinforcing left brain tendencies.
* What we can do to lower our exposure and it’s impacts, and..
* How we can call in the right hemisphere while doing our part to better the world we’re actually living in.
If you’d like to add to the discussion, please….
Have a good week,
Courtney

To learn more about this and other factors contributing to brain symptoms or to receive these newsletters in your mailbox each week, visit www.CourtneySnyderMD.com
Related Content:
Left and Right Brain: Knowing When to Call in the Other Half
Undermethylation & Strengthening the Right Brain in a Left Brain World
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courtneysnydermd.substack.com/subscribe

In this video and podcast episode, I discuss pyrrole disorder - one of the most common nutrient imbalances in brain-related conditions affecting adults and children. Elevated Hydroxyhemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL) in the urine, often referred to as “pyrroles,” has been associated with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, ADHD, learning disorders, substance use disorders, and violent behavior. Here, I address:
* How pyrrole disorder relates to other “root causes.”
* What we know, what we don’t know, and why this topic is controversial.
* Causes.
* Zinc and B6 depletion and how these impact brain health.
* Brain and physical symptoms and traits.
* Treatment.
* How low-stress tolerance can impact one’s ability to pursue meaningful education, work, and relationships.
As always, I welcome your questions and comments.
Have a good week,
Courtney
To learn more about this and other factors contributing to brain symptoms or to receive these newsletters in your mailbox each week, visit www.CourtneySnyderMD.com
Related Resources
* Pyrrole Disorder Symptoms List
* Zinc & the Brain
https://courtneysnydermd.substack.com/p/zinc-and-the-brain
* Discerning the Mauve Factor, Part 1
* Discerning the Mauve Factor, Part 2
* RCCX Theory, Hypermobility, Mental Health & Complex Chronic Illness
https://courtneysnydermd.substack.com/p/hypermobility-rccx-theory-mental

Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courtneysnydermd.substack.com/subscribe

In this video newsletter, I discuss why zinc is so important for the brain. I’ll address:
* Psychiatric conditions linked to low zinc.
* Three ways that zinc impacts neurotransmitter functioning.
* Zinc’s role as an antioxidant and its relationship to metallothioneins.
* The importance of zinc for immune regulation.
* The many ways zinc impacts the digestive tract.
* How we measure zinc (along with copper) and the limitations of typical lab ranges.
* Why optimizing zinc requires testing and monitoring.

Until next time,
Courtney
To learn more about this and other factors contributing to brain symptoms or to receive these newsletters in your mailbox each week, visit www.CourtneySnyderMD.com
Additional resources for those who’d like to take a deeper dive:
* Meet the NMDA Receptor (paid)
https://courtneysnydermd.substack.com/p/meet-the-nmda-receptor
* High Copper, Metallothionein, Mental Health & Cancer (paid)
https://courtneysnydermd.substack.com/p/high-copper-metallothioneins-mental
* Mast Cell Activation & Inflammation in Brain Conditions: How to Calm Things Down (free)
https://www.courtneysnydermd.com/blog/mast-cell-activation-inflammation-in-brain-disorders-how-to-calm-things-down
* Walsh Research Institute
https://www.walshinstitute.org/
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courtneysnydermd.substack.com/subscribe