After 39 years’ experience restoring damaging, suboptimal hormone levels in women and men, it has become apparent that this expertise will be critical in moving medicine forward, in another key area.
We have formed a new division called THE KOMER BRAIN SCIENCE INSTITUTE.
Many head injuries have a hormonal component and treatment of this problem has almost never been addressed by neurologists or therapists. There has been increasing interest in brain injuries and concerns about their long term ramifications such as the increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease, dementia and CTE. To meet the need and demand for better treatment models, we have launched a specific clinic for traumatic brain injuries. Given my experience in restoring hormones and my long career of treating athletic injuries including concussions (Women’s Team Canada Lacrosse, Men’s Team Canada Lacrosse twice, and Toronto Rock Professional Lacrosse Team 17 years) , the clinic is a natural evolution.
I do not believe that any one person can treat all aspects of concussions. Head injuries can include deterioration of hormone levels, significant visual processing problems, neck and back injuries and vestibular issues (balance ) For that reason, and because of our experience in working with other health professionals, we have formed a network of very experienced individuals. This includes experts in Visual Assessment and Therapy, Interventional Pain Management and Rehabilitation Medicine and a Sports Medicine colleague who specializes in assessing and treating the non-hormonal aspects of traumatic brain injuries.
Each injury is unique; it will require its own specific proportion of assessment and treatment by each of us in the group. This approach has led to successful outcomes for many suffering patients that we have treated.
I have presented our new approach and treatment protocols at the following meetings .They were received with great interest.
A New Frontier For Diagnosis And Treatment: Posttraumatic Brain Injury Hormone Deficiency Syndrome“ at the Brain Injury Canada Annual Conference in Montréal, October 1, 2015
A Paradigm Shift In Treatment For Traumatic Brain Injury at the Ontario Acquired Brain Injury 2015 Provincial Conference, Niagara Falls on November 13, 2015
My treatment centers around two major factors:
- brain inflammation and free radical damage
- hormone deficiencies
Brain Inflammation and Free Radical Damage
Phase 1 of traumatic brain injuries/ concussions always result in some cell death. The amount is dependent on the type and severity of the initial injury.
Phase 2 consists of other secondary cascades of inflammation and free radical damage that smolder for years. These cause progressive damage to the brain leading to both psychological and cognitive impairments.
Hormonal Deficiencies
Disruption of the hypothalamic – pituitary axis has been documented in the acute phase of TBI with 80% of patients showing evidence of gonadotropin deficiency, 18% with growth hormone deficiency, 16% with corticotrophin deficiency and 40% with vasopressin abnormalities. Studies have shown that some of these early abnormalities are transient, whereas new endocrine dysfunctions become apparent in the post-acute phase. Without treatment, at 3 months after the brain injury, 56% of patients have pituitary dysfunction and abnormal hormone levels. At one year, 36% of patients still persist with abnormal hormones. (Journal of Endocrinology Investigation 2005:28 Popovic et al)
Brain injury leads to a toxic environment in the brain that makes it difficult or impossible to heal. Part of our treatment protocol is to induce a neuro-permissive environment that reduces inflammation and free radical toxicity. This allows the brain to heal. After brain injury, steroids like progesterone and its metabolites can exert protective effects on neurons glial cells by preventing cerebral edema, necrosis, apoptosis and inflammation, while enhancing neuronal regenerative mechanisms.
In addition, after the acute injury there is vasospasm and decreased oxygenation. Drugs that cause vasodilatation may be helpful here.
The aims of our treatment protocols are to:
- control inflammation
- enhance neuronal survival and neuro protection
- stimulate recovery
- replenish hormones
Treatment Protocols
These include, but are not limited to, fairly high doses of vitamin D, which is anti-inflammatory and brain protective, 3000 mg of omega-3 oils which cross the blood brain barrier and are anti-inflammatory, melatonin which is a great brain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and magnesium which can be helpful for mood and memory. There are other nutrients and substances that we are presently assessing in our treatment protocols.
The Cornerstone of the Komer Method is the attitude that ONLY OPTIMAL IS ACCEPTABLE. Many lab ranges are very wide and are accepted as “normal”. Large portions of these ranges include levels that are far from ideal. We have developed our own set of optimal ranges, and strive to achieve these in each patient.
