Today I’ll talk about brain health and how CBD has been able to help me, even with my complicated brain history. With Covid now on everyone’s minds, people are concerned more than ever that their brain remains sharp and healthy.
Growing up in Canada, I grew up playing competitive hockey and ended up playing pro in Europe. For more than twenty years I’ve been knocked to the ice, checked into the boards, clobbered with a stick, hit with a puck, and been in my fair share of fights. My hockey career contributed to the number of impacts to my neck, head and brain. I started noticing emotional changes such as depression and anxiety and sleeping issues at the tail end of my playing career and realized that something was just not right. At that time, mental health wasn’t really talked about and my multiple concussions were just part of the game. I initially tried the traditional medical approach and started prescription medication. I felt lousy from that and wanted to find a more natural approach. I then started my doctorate program and discussing my health issues with wholistic health care providers. That lead me to researching how THC could benefit me. I found that my symptoms improved, but the psychoactive properties interfered with my active lifestyle and with my education. I needed to find an alternative, natural approach and that’s what led me to using CBD and recommending it to my patients.
Even with my history of minor brain trauma from sports concussions and whiplash from bicycle, car and motorcycle crashes I’ve been able to manage my anxiety and depression with the use of CBD. In my private practice I utilize clinical immunology laboratory testing in functional immunology and autoimmunity to examine my blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB protects your delicate gray matter from outside chemicals and inflammatory agents that may cause problems if allowed to enter. After a brain injury, this barrier is often compromised, allowing massive inflammatory triggers inside the brain where they do not belong. In recent studies, CBD has been shown to reduce or remove the impact of inflammation, oxygen buildup and brain cell decline. Inflammation has been shown to increase the negative impact of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Since using CBD I’ve noticed improvement in my falling, and staying, asleep and an overall better emotional state. I’ve noticed that my depressive states are less intense and my “out of nowhere anger states” happen less often.
In my next article I will discuss the current research on CBD and gut health and how my gut health has improved since I started using CBD. I’ll also be discussing how my history of brain injuries has contributed to my gut issues.
Dr. Rob Pomahac was named “Top Chiropractor” by Los Angeles Magazine in 2018. A Canadian native and ex-professional hockey player and bodybuilder, he specializes in spine pathology and ligament instability, Dr. Rob is certified in Chiropractic BioPhysics and is an Associate Member of the American Academy of Regenerative Medicine. He earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Southern California University of Health Sciences and holds a Masters in Science, Specializing in Kinesiology, from Canada’s University of Waterloo. For more information on Dr. Rob visit DrRobPomahac.com
