CCSVI and CCVBP

A forum to discuss Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency and its relationship to Multiple Sclerosis.
wallace
Family Member
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 7:22 am

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by wallace »

I know some chiros are embracing this method of tackling the Vagus system. Upright doc what do you think.??? Do you know of the work of David Berceli?




How And Why I Use TRE In My Medical Practice

I am teaching many patients per week the TRE’s. The reason why TRE’s are so useful is that, in my experience, they affect two of the underlying physiological reasons for why diseases develop in the first place. The first physiological underpinning of many diseases is that the body is in a state of chronic fight-flight over-activation. When this happens, there is an overproduction of stress hormones, and this can affect the health adversely in several ways. Stress hormones sensitize nerve fibers and lead to more pain in patients with chronic pain syndromes. They increase heart rate (think arrhythmias), throw off digestive processes (think GERD and irritable bowel syndrome) and affect urinary function. The cortisol abnormalities that are invariably involved with chronic fight-flight can affect the function of the immune system and may be related to inflammation and autoimmune diseases, as well as the tendency for some folks to always be sick, or to have difficulty healing. It can also affect blood sugar levels and be related to diabetes.

In our caveman ancestors, the fight-flight mechanism was turned on only for brief periods of time when there was an acute threat. The challenge is that now, due to technology and certain societal factors, the “smoke detector” part of our brain that looks for danger is constantly being activated and firing off the fight-flight mechanism. I believe that fight-flight physiology for many of us gets activated so often and for so long that it can actually enter an autopilot mode, and be challenging to turn off by conventional medical treatments.

The second physiological phenomenon that underpins disease involves the freeze mode. If a trauma is happening to us at any point in time in our lives and if during this we feel overwhelmed and helpless, then instead of fighting or fleeing, we will actually freeze and immobilize. It is as if we are tensing up to either protect ourselves from harm, or to somehow keep ourselves from feeling emotionally overwhelmed. One challenge is that, even after the threat is over, these bracing and tension patterns may persist in our bodies, running on autopilot. It is as if a certain primitive part of our brain tasked with “protecting” us doesn’t realize the threat has passed. So, later in life, when the same types of stressful situations arise (that triggered us when we were younger), those same protective muscle groups will become chronically tensed and spastic (think fibromyalgia, or chronic neck and back pain).

The freeze mode also involves over-activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and vagus nerve. The parasympathetic nervous system is normally responsible for “rest and digest”, however when over-activated for too long, it can wreck havoc. There may be over-activity of the bowels or bladder, or a heart rate that is too slow, or hypotension.

Many folks who have been traumatized have a combination of overactive sympathetic AND parasympathetic nervous system responses occuring at the same time. This is akin to trying to drive your car with your foot on the gas and the brake pedals simultaneously. You don’t need to be an automotive mechanic to realize that this would cause the car to wear out much faster (think premature aging, or chronic fatigue syndrome). I believe this combination of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems working on overdrive at the same time causes many of the dysautonomia syndromes that we see.

Everyone knows that the body is supposed to heal itself, but for many folks with chronic illnesses, this is not happening, and I would suggest that it is the factors that I’ve listed above that are the reason for this. And, ideally, if one could shift out of chronic fight-flight-freeze mode, and start relaxing patterns of chronic muscle tension and spasm, this would be good to help facilitate better healing in the body. For those of you with a bent towards eastern medicine, I believe it is these chronic muscle tension and bracing patterns that block the flow of energy in the meridians in the first place.

Eighty percent of the patients who go to a primary care doctor’s office have functional medical problems. The word functional means these patients have real symptoms and real complaints, but on physical exam and laboratory and x-ray studies, we might not find anything anatomically wrong, like a broken bone, a tumor, a ruptured appendix, a bowel obstruction, an obstructing kidney stone or prostate gland, etc. What I would suggest to you is that the physiological mechanisms that I’ve described above are what cause functional medical problems---too much fight or flight or freeze physiology, and too much muscle tension and spasm and bracing.

I’d like to take a moment to discuss back pain since it is a "real" disease and also a metaphor for some of the factors we are describing. As you may or may not know, about 90% of chronic back pain is not caused by slipped discs, spinal stenosis, or spinal arthritis, although these anatomical findings are frequently found in the MRI scans of back pain patients. What is very interesting is that if you do an MRI scan on 100 middle-aged people with NO back pain, 65% of them will have the same findings. So if it’s not the disc, the spinal stenosis or the spinal arthritis that’s causing the pain, then what is causing it? Well, according to physical medicine expert Dr. John Sarno, the cause of most cases of musculoskeletal pain is chronic tension and spasm of the muscles. When a muscle is chronically tensed and spastic, there is less blood flow and relatively less oxygen going to the tissues, and this can cause severe pain.

Dr. Sarno used to see some of the worst chronic pain patients in the world. Most of his patients had had their pain for 10-30 years, most had had laminectomy surgery and epidural injections and years of physical therapy, but their pain persisted. With this group of patients, ones who nobody else was able to help, who had failed all means of conventional therapy, in an academic setting, he claimed to have an 88% cure rate, and an additional 10% of his patients were much improved (i.e. 50-80% better).

You might be wondering how Sarno was able to get such fantastic results with patients who no one else could help. Well, he started off by asking better questions. He asked himself, “Why are the muscles tensed and spastic to begin with?” What he found is that folks would unconsciously tense the muscles to prevent themselves from feeling certain emotions that weren’t safe to feel when they were younger, growing up in their family of origin. I know you must be saying to yourself, “This is very similar to what I just read above, about how folks develop patterns of chronic muscle tension and bracing when they are young, to help protect them from feeling what would otherwise be overwhelming emotions.” Some of these muscles freeze and stay frozen. Others will tend to tense up again later in life when certain situations begin to elicit the “unsafe” emotions.

In Sarno’s case, the way that he was able to get such fantastic results with his patients was by teaching them a mind-body approach. He would basically tell them that, when they were having pain, to ask themselves, “I wonder what I’m angry or anxious about?” Once the answer came to them, they were to allow themselves to feel their emotional truth without resisting it. They didn’t need to act out on their emotions, but they didn’t have to repress them either.

In my medical practice, a cornerstone of mind-body approach involves using the TRE’s because they address both physiological components underlying most diseases. If folks are frozen, the TRE’s seem to unfreeze them and shift them out of parasympathetic overdrive, and help to relax chronically tensed and spastic muscles. If folks are in a chronic fight-flight state, the TRE’s seem to help them to shift out of this, gradually and over time, into a state of normalcy (which we call “social engagement”).

So whether my patients have insomnia or migraine headaches, palpitations, GERD or irritable bowel syndrome, bladder over-activity, chronic back spasm or pelvic pain, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, the TRE’s are my main recommendation, in addition to whatever else I prescribe within the standard care of practice. Sometimes the TRE’s start working very powerfully in the first session, other times the results show themselves after a few weeks or months of diligent practice. I remember oncologist Dr. Bernie Siegal once wrote a book entitled, “How to Live Between Office Visits.” If I were to write a similar book, I’d recommend doing the TRE’s between office visits because they address the higher level cause of many diseases.

I will now give 3 examples of how I used TRE’s with patients during one recent week in my office. The names and identifying information have been changed to protect confidentiality.

James was a 40 year-old police officer with groin pain that wasn’t responding well to standard medical treatment. I explained to him that, oftentimes, the pain was due to nerve hypersensitivity in a certain part of the body, and that, at a higher level of truth, this was secondary to an over-activated fight-flight stress response. I also told him that in folks with chronic pain, the surrounding muscles were tense and tight, and this tendency to spasm could be related to past patterns of how he had learned to handle stress and tension in his life (to protect him from feeling uncomfortable emotions). I taught him the TRE’s and he had amazing tremors. When we were finished, he looked confused and befuddled. It took us a few minutes to figure out this strange new sensation that he was noticing in his body---it was RELAXATION and it was completely foreign to him. He left the office looking very forward to practicing on his own, and to resetting his nervous system to be able to enjoy this newfound feeling of relaxation..

A second woman who I saw was Patricia, in her mid-60’s. She was having severe bladder spasms and urge incontinence, and medications weren’t helping at all. She had come to the office so that I could inject Botox into her bladder to force the muscle to relax in order to stop the urine leakage. I was talking with her, asking about any underlying stressors that might be triggering such a dramatic physical response in her body. She shared with me that a family member had passed away a few years back and she was still racked with grief and conflict over their passing. These emotional issues were putting her in the exact same physiology that we’ve been discussing. We did TRE’s and she felt a huge weight lifted off of her, and left the office looking more relaxed. I am certain that if she continues the TRE’s, it will transform her body and mind, and certainly help the Botox work better.

A third patient, Emily, was a woman in her 20’s who was getting recurrent bladder infections. Typically in young healthy women, 1-3 days of antibiotics will clear up their uti’s. In this patient, each time she had an infection she required 2-3 weeks of antibiotics before the infection would feel better. This was very unusual to me. An ultrasound of the kidneys was normal, as was a cystoscopy looking at her bladder. I kept wondering to myself, "Why was it taking her so long to heal?" I wondered if she were in a state of chronic fight-flight, and whether this was affecting her cortisol levels and immune function. One thing I did find on the cystoscopy was that her pelvic floor muscles were extremely tense and tight. It was obvious that she held this part of her body in a spastic bracing pattern. Of note, when a person’s pelvic floor is super tight, this clamps down on the urethra and can cause burning with urination. Its possible that the antibiotics were working correctly, but the burning continued because of a chronically tensed and spastic pelvic floor. We did the TRE’s and she walked out of the office feeling a huge shift in her pelvic floor region and the burning around her urethra had gone away.

Gosh, I love my job.

Eric. B. Robins, MD
Last edited by wallace on Sat May 02, 2015 5:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
wallace
Family Member
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 7:22 am

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by wallace »

User avatar
uprightdoc
Family Elder
Posts: 1995
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:00 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by uprightdoc »

Wallace,

There was nothing of substance in the article or the youtube presentation. It's all jibberish and not at all relevant to the topic of this forum.
wallace
Family Member
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 7:22 am

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by wallace »

User avatar
NZer1
Family Elder
Posts: 1624
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:00 pm
Location: Rotorua New Zealand

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by NZer1 »

Hi everyone,

Wallace what does "an explicit statement of the theory" mean?
wallace
Family Member
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 7:22 am

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by wallace »

its academia! But I thought maybe my previous post lacked a certain academic gravitas!!!
User avatar
uprightdoc
Family Elder
Posts: 1995
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:00 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by uprightdoc »

I started looking into marine and aviation physiology thirty years ago for the same reason I studied bats, whales and giraffes. I predicted that prolonged space flight and exposure to microgravity would cause inversion flows resulting in normal pressure hydrocephalus and glaucoma. NPH is associated with dementia. Faulty craniospinal hydrodynamics are a major cause of many neurological and neurodegenerative conditions. Venous insufficiency is a key suspect in causing faulty craniospinal hydrodynamics. Among other things, malformations and misalignments of the craniocervical junction can cause venous insufficiency and faulty cranisospinal hydrodynamics.

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 253_1.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stati ... anges.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_imp ... l_pressure
User avatar
NZer1
Family Elder
Posts: 1624
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:00 pm
Location: Rotorua New Zealand

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by NZer1 »

Dr F is this "an explicit statement of the theory" ?

Seems that if we have both feet on the ground we will be in better shape long term?

Looking forward to Paulo's results from his blood flow testing collar in space trial! It will at least give us something to ponder and become wishful about ..... :)

;)
Nigel
User avatar
uprightdoc
Family Elder
Posts: 1995
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:00 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by uprightdoc »

Nigel,

I think that I have been very explicit in repeatedly stating my theory for past thirty years. It doens't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Humans are earthlings designed to work best under earth's gravitational forces. Microgravity causes inversion flows that are detrimental to the brain and the eyes, which are not well suited as alternative drainage routes during prolonged inversion flows. I suspect that bats and giraffes use the eyes and olfactory nerve roots as alternative accessory drainage routes to drain the brain during head inversion. In humans, prolonged upright posture favored the development of an accessory drainage system that drains into the spinal canal. The rocket scientists have been slow to catch on to my theory. Possible solutions for susceptible astronauts who wish to participate in long-term space flight will be cornal transplants or reconstruction, fenestrations, shunts and siphoning.
User avatar
NZer1
Family Elder
Posts: 1624
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:00 pm
Location: Rotorua New Zealand

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by NZer1 »

Dr F, I put up the comment to show the comparison between the article/publishing of Wallace and your own insights.

This is a common issue.

One side of the fence has total belief in what they have as a theory and the other side wants to have replication of testing that supports the theory before it can be defined as 'reality'.

So at what point do we say that for instance bio-energetics, mindfulness and psychology are impacting health at it's origin ........... ?

Or at what time do we say the Chiropractic theory is correct in saying that alignment of the spine is 'causing' the improvement in Chiropractic treatment because of impingements of the nerve tracts ........ and therefor the opposite must also be true that spinal alignment causes illness at its origin .................... ?

Or at what point do we say that MS is understood and the CSF flow is the key or fundamental issue, or that vascular flow is the fundamental issue, or that vascular leakage is the issue because of BBB leakage.

At what point do we say that person xyz has a theory that is more believable than person abc?

OR do we acknowledge the didactic situations and say that many things contribute to illness, that as humans we 'assume' that there will be only one cause and discredit anything that doesn't fit our paradigm?

Could it be that illness is created by many, many different factors and there can be two people with the same dx but they have different causes or cascades that contribute to the dis-ease of their system that have attracted the label or dx ........... ?

Thinking becomes a habit ;)
Nigel
User avatar
uprightdoc
Family Elder
Posts: 1995
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:00 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by uprightdoc »

Nigel,

Theories should always be supported by testing and evidence not beliefs.

The focus of this thread is my theory regarding craniospinal hydrodynamics and neurodegenerative conditions, which is about physics and physiology not bioenergetics, mindfulness or psychology. My theory has to do with physics and physiology not chiropractic theory. It is also relevant to neurosurgeons, NASA and astronauts.

I don't know at what point we say that MS is understood. That's not my department or decision. I am merely proposing a new theory based on craniospinal hydrodynamics.

One person's theory becomes more believable than another's when it can be validated using the scientific method.

Many physicians and philosophers have suggested that anything can cause anything when it comes to health and illness. While it sounds good on paper it doesn't produce clinical results and patients, physicians and surgeons don't want shotgun anwers or solutions.

Ilnesses can indeed be caused by many things. That's why you take a case history and do a physical exam based on the patient's particular presentation.

Keep on thinking.
User avatar
Robnl
Family Elder
Posts: 668
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:00 pm
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by Robnl »

Hi doc,

next week i g to the hospital for rediagnosis.
For the mri of the cranio cervical junction; what kind of image is right? left/right/front/back/top/bottom?

rgds

Robert
NB Mystery is now in hospital for the t4/t5 surgery
User avatar
uprightdoc
Family Elder
Posts: 1995
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:00 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by uprightdoc »

Hello Robert,

I am sorry I missed your post. For some reason, I don't get notified by TIMS anymore.

That's great that you are getting and MRI of the craniocervial junction, especially considering your history of many years of playing soccer (football). The images of the craniocervical junction should include the usual coronal (front to back), sagittal (side to side) and axial (top to bottom) views. Most importantly, the images should be carefully read by a radiologist who has thorough knowledge, is trained and has experience in the craniocervical junction. In addition to possible chronic misalignment type structural strains, the images should also be checked for signs of damage and tears to the upper cervical muscles and ligaments as well as the dura mater. Range of motion MRI views of the CCJ would also be helpful to check dynamics and stability of the joints. While I am glad that you are getting the images, as you know, and I have said it many times here before - IT WOULD BE MUCH BETTER TO HAVE ALL OF THE ABOVE TESTS DONE IN THE UPRIGHT POSITION! But I will take what I can get.

Refresh my memory Robert. Is Mystery the person with the large syrinx?
User avatar
Robnl
Family Elder
Posts: 668
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:00 pm
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by Robnl »

Thx doc,

Remember....wednessday i wil SPEAK to the doctors, but MRI for rediagnosis...1+1=2 right? :mrgreen:

Yes, Mystery is that one.....on facebook she said that surgery went ok.
User avatar
uprightdoc
Family Elder
Posts: 1995
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:00 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: CCSVI and CCVBP

Post by uprightdoc »

That's great Robert.

That's great to hear that Mystery's surgery was ok. I hope she does better. Now that the thoracic surgery is over, her doctors should start to focus on her craniocervical junction. Chiari malformations are one of the primary causes of a syrinx.
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI)”