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Authors: Mark Hyman
The UltraMind Solution (2 page)
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008032677
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-4971-0
eISBN-13: 978-1-4165-6605-2
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For my children, their children, their children’s children,
and for all children—they depend on us to ask why and
act on the answers, however difficult.
Part I:
The Accidental Psychiatrist’s Approach to the Epidemic of Broken Brains
Chapter 2: The Accidental Psychiatrist: Finding the Body-Mind Connection
Chapter 4: Why You Are Suffering from Brain Damage: Learning How to Protect Your Brain
Chapter 5: Your Mood and Brain Power Are Not All in Your Head: The Seven Keys to UltraWellness
Chapter 6: Key #1: Optimize Nutrition—The Key to Mental Health and Brain Health
Chapter 16: The UltraMind Lifestyle: Exercise, Relax, Sleep, and Train Your Brain
Chapter 18: The Preparation Week: Preparing Your Body and Mind for the Goodness to Come
Chapter 19: The UltraMind Solution: Boosting Your Brain Power for Life
Chapter 20: What to Do When the Six Weeks Are Over: Achieve an UltraMind for Life
INTRODUCTION TO
THE ULTRAMIND SOLUTION
BY MARTHA HERBERT, M.D., PH.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School,
and Director of Transcend Research Program,
Massachusetts General Hospital
In the twenty-first century the watchword of biology is “systems.” As our technologies race ahead in sophistication, we are being flooded with evidence for the integration of functions in our brains and bodies. Things are very connected, and they are very interdependent. Gone is the single gene acting by itself; it has been replaced by networks. And gone is genetics acting by itself—this has been replaced by integration across levels. Genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and many more “omics” are all intertwined. This is the new “systems biology.”
What does this have to do with our health? In the twentieth century, medicine chopped the body up into specialties—neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and endocrinology. Specialists zoomed into their corner of the body; but who was minding the whole picture? Very few doctors have had that skill. Systems biology demands a fresh approach, and that’s where Functional Medicine comes in. Rather than treating the body as a collection of separate organ systems, it looks at how our cells and systems flourish and how they get into trouble. Functional Medicine is the practical interface for systems biology in clinical care. It looks for system problems so it can catch things early and treat root causes rather than symptoms.
In the twenty-first century it is also becoming clear that the brain is deeply linked to the body, and that the brain and body profoundly shape each other. If the brain is in the body, and the body systems are in trouble, the brain will be in trouble too. Many of the systems commonly unwell in the body will also be unwell in the brain. Dr. Hyman uses Functional Medicine to show that if you treat these unwell systems, you help your body and that helps your brain too.
The chemical imbalances underlying “psychiatric illness” can now be seen as linked to more systemic chemical, metabolic problems, which can be treated at the bodily level. While just treating the brain chemistry can
lead to drug dependence, treating systemic chemistry can fix the brain chemistry imbalance and lead to real sustainable healing.
With the onslaught of so much stress and so many chemical and other environmental challenges, it’s no wonder that our body systems are challenged, and that our brain function is not what it should be. Dr. Hyman’s seven keys to UltraWellness offer a clear approach to supporting and healing our core functional systems. While more research is important, we know enough to deal intelligently with these challenges right now, and Dr. Hyman shows not only why but how.
For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forbears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
—JOHN F. KENNEDY
Be open minded, but not so open minded that your brains fall out.
—GROUCHO MARX
In opening this book on the brain and mood, my guess is you are surprised by the absence of any chapters on familiar diseases like depression, anxiety, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, or Alzheimer’s disease. Instead you find chapters on nutrition, hormones, inflammation, digestion, detoxification, energy, and calming the mind.
If diseases as we know them were a useful way to think about what is wrong with our brains, our moods, and our thinking, then I would have written a book about them. But they are not useful.
Instead this book is an exploration of what is really wrong with our brains. It is about the real causes and solutions for our mental suffering and the epidemics of depression, anxiety, dementia, autism, and attention deficit disorder we see in today’s world. If you have been diagnosed with “mental disorders” or “brain diseases,” I will tell you what you really need to know about the cause and cure for your suffering. Diseases as we currently define them will no longer be relevant, as we understand the basic common molecular mechanisms at the root of your symptoms.
I challenge you to put aside your beliefs about your suffering, and discover how medicine has evolved without anyone noticing. This book is about that change, and the possibility of renewal for you.
How to Use This Book
Welcome to your brain.