Kat Toups, MD

Research indicates that people with allergies exhibit a higher incidence of mental health conditions (Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar, and Schizophrenia) than other people. Conditions like asthma, allergic rhinitis (hay fever, sinus allergies), and atopic dermatitis (eczema). They did not find that one clearly caused the other, and speculated on a genetic link. ... The study also cites the inflammatory hypothesis, which proposes that mental health conditions might arise from the immune system’s inflammatory response to allergies. I find a solution to the psychiatric symptoms by working with the health of the gut, which is the root of the immune system. There can also be viral and bacterial triggers. And quieting down the inflammation that can ignite the immune microglial cells in the brain and lead to neuroinflammation can improve or resolve the psychiatric symptoms. I’m happy to see researchers starting to look at connections like this! Because there are solutions for suffering from both the allergies and the psychiatric symptoms.

This is so incredibly moving. Actually, magical! Tony Bennett is 95 years old, and has moderately advanced Alzheimer’s. But the singing and performing part of his brain has not been damaged by the disease process at all!

My friend and colleague, Achina Stein, MD, is offering this free Masterclass. If you’re interested but cannot make the time, go ahead and sign up and she will send you the recording.

I found this fascinating from a neuroscience point of view, and super emotional from my empath point of view. Apparently there’s somewhere close to 100 people in the world that have Foreign Accent Syndrome, where they suddenly shift into speaking with a foreign accent. When I watched the young Australian woman with the Irish accent receive the results of her fMRI scan, which showed how abnormal her language centers were, she started crying, and I started crying.... Of course people were telling her it was all in her head, and this validated that she actually had neuro-anatomical correlates of what was happening. She then had to deal with the second emotional hit: that something was wrong with her brain, and would she ever get it back? Besides the important message of taking people seriously even when they report neurologic symptoms don’t make immediate sense, this clip also shows us how important it is to find a community that understands us.

Here’s an incredible example of what is possible with healthy aging! I do believe exercise is our best option to age well. For our bodies and our brains. I am just in awe of this amazing woman! This really made my day.