Tag: brain

Can Physical Activity Change our Mood Through our Gut?

Gut Microbiota

The gut microbiota are microorganisms or bacteria that reside in our intestinal tract. Everyone has approximately 100 trillion microorganisms within their digestive system! Each person has a unique collection and assortment of these bacteria which are unique as our fingerprints. These gut bacteria play a fundamental role in shaping our metabolism, neuronal, and hormonal (endocrine) systems.

Microorganisms also impact our immune function and if dysfunctional, can contribute to problems such as obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease or depression. There are many research articles that show that the administration of certain strains of gut bacteria to rodents, results in decreased anxiety and depression

Continue reading

Roundup & Damaged Microbiomes

I’d like to share with you a youtube video I recently watched on the website of one of the labs I use frequently. It’s an interview with Dr. Stephanie Seneff, an MIT Research Scientist who found herself researching glyphosate in her quest to understand the growing prevalence of Autism in North America (about 1 in 66 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Canada). Glyphosate is the primary chemical in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup and is considered by many accounts to be the most popular herbicide globally.

Continue reading

When Anti-Depressants Don’t Work For You

depressedBefore the year 2000, most medical approaches assumed that the adult brain continuously lost brain cells and was incapable of regeneration. We now know that the brain is incredibly plastic, meaning that it can adapt, grow, and heal. Up until 2 years ago, we believed that the brain was anatomically entirely separate from our immune system. However, the very recent discovery of lymphatic vessels that directly connect the brain to our immune system have incredible implications for our broader understanding of brain health. Add to this a growing body of compelling research linking aberrant immune function to mood disorders, and we finally have some serious tools to investigate alternatives to the traditional serotonin-promoting antidepressant pharmaceuticals that fail for so many people with depression. 

Continue reading

Trigger Points To Alleviate Headaches

Trigger Point HeadachesCan Massage Therapy help with my headaches? Yes! Although Massage Therapy may not spring to mind as a typical intervention for ongoing headaches, I have had a lot of success over the years treating clients for head pain.  There are a few ways Massage Therapy can address headaches, but the most common way is by addressing trigger points in the neck and upper back.  A trigger point is a specific point in a muscle that, when stimulated, can cause referred pain. These pain patterns are remarkably consistent from one person to another and there are A LOT of trigger points that refer to the head, mimicking a headache.  Some trigger points can even mimic migraines or cause some autonomic phenomena to occur, such as watery eyes, runny nose, and light sensitivity. So, by addressing the tension in the neck and associated trigger points, headaches will often disappear!

There are so many different types of headaches, how can you know if Massage Therapy will help you with your specific headache?   There are some good clues to watch for that may indicate that your headache pain is associated with a pesky trigger point:

Continue reading

Are The Foods You Eat Causing Your Headaches?

Head shot of woman scowling

Most of us have experienced a minor headache before, but did you know that over half of us experience an excruciating headache at least once a year?  Unfortunately for many of us, headaches happen a lot more frequently than once a year and can be quite debilitating. When treating patients who suffer from chronic headaches or migraines, it is important to understand the “root cause” of their head pain. I find most patients clearly know what triggers their headaches. I have heard explanations ranging from the weather to their mother-in-law, but a key starting point to treatment is always understanding what truly triggers the pain.  For the sake of simplicity I will be using the term “headaches” to refer to both headaches and migraines. I completely appreciate that there is a difference as I too was once a migraine sufferer. Regardless of whether your headaches are occasional minor headaches or frequent migraines, the following information may help you feel better.

The Basics

Before we dive into the “food-headache” connection, there a few common culprits to chronic head pain that should be ruled out first. The following is a list of things to focus on.  After correcting for these factors, if the chronic headaches are still present, then it may be worthwhile exploring a food sensitivity connection.

Continue reading

Improving Memory with CogMedTM

5, 8, or 10 week options ● Ongoing one-on-one sessions

with Phillip Wendt, Occupational Therapist

CogMedTM is a medically proven computer based solution for attention problems caused by poor working memory. Increased working memory allows you to experience better focus, resist distractions, control impulses, and engage in longer and more complex discussions.

Please read more about brain training options, here on our blog.

Some insurance providers may cover the entire cost of the program when facilitated by an Occupational Therapist.

Ask an Occupational Therapist: Neuroplasticity and improving your working memory.

Phillip Wendt, Occupational Therapist

What is neuroplasticity?

Neuroplasticity is the concept that your brain is a dynamic organ that changes and grows in response to a variety stimuli. It has largely replaced the older medical idea that the nervous system is an unchanging system that functions in a machine like manner. For example, people are now overcoming learning disabilities once thought insurmountable, making amazing recoveries from strokes and brain injuries, and much more.

What is your background in neuroplasticity as an occupational therapist?

My first real experience with neuroplasticity was when I worked with stroke patients in Calgary in the mid-2000’s. There, I had the extreme privilege to start one of the first constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) programs in Canada.

Continue reading

10 Strategies To Improve Brain Function and Preserve Brain Health

Dr. Sonya Nobbe, ND

People often ask me for a supplement or herb that preserves brain health and treats changes in brain function, such as decreased word recall or concentration. However, well before an effective supplement support can be chosen, the following basic principles must be addressed, as changes in brain function are commonly a consequence of the body compensating for some other disturbance.

1. Eat fresh, local, organic produce, when possible. Organic vegetables produce their own pesticide chemicals that protect our bodies from inflammation and damage. Some of these chemicals, generally called phytochemicals, are directly linked to optimal brain function and nerve protection.

2. Figure out why you’re so tired all the time! Many of the underlying mechanisms of chronic fatigue also cause poor brain function. For example, thyroid hormones are also brain hormones

Continue reading

Brain Injury and Occupational Therapy

Phillip Wendt, MScOT, OT Reg. (Ont.)

An Acquired Brain Injury, or ABI for short, refers to any brain injury that has occurred after birth. This includes a large variety of diagnoses such as concussion, hypoxic brain injury, stroke, subdural hematoma, traumatic brain injury, and others. It does not include hereditary or congenital illnesses.

How does someone know they have one, particularly if it’s not severe enough to show up on a brain scan (MRI or CT)?

Most ABI’s will have a sudden onset of marked changes that can be seen on imaging or neurological examinations (MRI, CT, etc.). However, mild ABI’s such as concussion may not. Indeed, a person may not even be aware that they have sustained a concussion. In these instances immediately after one sustains an impact to their head, it is important to look for signs and symptoms such as confusion, disorientation, and irritability. Lingering symptoms can then included headaches, fatigue, changes in sleep patterns, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, light and sound sensitivity and nausea.

Why is it so important to treat a mild to moderate ABI such as concussion? Won’t it heal all by itself?

Continue reading

Concussions and Osteopathy

~ Graham Wiltshire, CAT(C), CSCS, DOMP (Thesis Writer)

I have been an Athletic Therapist for almost 17 years and treating osteopathically for 10 years. I have worked at all levels of sports from amateur to professional and have seen the trauma that causes concussions as well as treated people who have suffered from the effects of post-concussion syndrome.

While it has become common knowledge that concussions occur in sports, we are now recognizing that they occur, with increasing frequency, to the general public.

Continue reading

  • 1
  • 2

NEWSLETTER

Sign-up for our monthly newsletter for updates, unique health information, and workshops worth sharing!

* indicates required

We respectfully acknowledge that Kingston Integrated Healthcare is situated on ancestral Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. Since time immemorial they have cared for these lands and waters, and we are grateful. We recognize that a healthy environment is essential to the wellbeing of all people and all life.


© Kingston Integrated Healthcare. All rights reserved.