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I'm treating a woman who lives in Florida.  She is here for a month for treatment and she's worried about her blood pressure.  She reported that her blood pressure that morning was 171/110!  She was right to be worried.  When I checked her blood pressure in the office, it was 143/94 on the right and 122/80 on the left.  The problem was that her blood pressure on the right was 21 points higher than on the left! That is a big difference from side to side. Why?  When someone has a cortical deficit, the cortex on the same side loses it's ability to inhibit the sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight part that raises blood pressure).  This woman has a right cortical deficit.  She doesn't have enough signal coming out of the right side of her brain to shut things down, like the stress response in her brainstem (pontomedullary junction).  After the first treatment, her blood pressure was 126/88 on the right and 120/79 on the left.  Do you know anyone with blood pressure problems?  Tell them about chiropractic neurology and my office in Woodinville, WA.  Thank you.    Dr. Merry

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I'm treating a 26 yo girl who had a stroke about a month ago. Fortunately, she recognized the signs when her left arm and leg were tingling and her face went droopy. There is a medication that the ER gives to stroke victims. If you get this medication within 3 hours, the effects of the stroke can be mitigated. She did this and within about 6 hours she was 90% better. She later was released from the hospital. However, when I got to see her for the first time, about 2 weeks after the stroke, she still had a partially droopy face, a very weak palate, and other stroke-like findings. I'm happy to report that her face is 100% even today, after 3 weeks of treatment. Her mother said that her normal voice has returned, due to making neuroplastic changes in her brain stem to raise her palate. Even though she was released, there were still functional problems that were able to be corrected. She still has some problems mis-spelling words, which I'm hopeful will be corrected. If someone you know is struggling, please tell them about my office here in Woodinville, WA. Dr. Merry

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I've treated many children on the autism spectrum (ASD)and children with ADHD who have struggled with their speech. Many parents have told me that the speech therapy did not work well. Many times, a child with ASD or ADHD also has a right palatal weakness. If the part of the brain that controls tongue movement on the right isn't working, the child will not be able to move the tongue in proper ways. Since it's summertime, parents have more time for therapy with their children. I suggested last week that a mother of a 7 year old boy (who is doing marvelously with neurology treatment) bring him to his speech therapy directly after his treatment here. The speech therapist reported that "it was the best therapy session ever! He was like a different child. They even finished all the treatment for the first time with time left over!" When the brainstem works well, the tongue works well too. Then speech therapy will have even better results. Go, brain, go!

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Did you know that I check for persistent primitive reflexes? A primitive reflex is a reflex that is normal in an infant, but not normal after about one year of age. It is estimated that 30% of American children have one still present that should have been gone long ago. If they are present after their normal developmental stage, they could be the underlying cause of learning disorders and also things like wetting the bed, poor handwriting, lack of focus, sloppy posture, poor reading, fidgeting, and many other symptoms. When the brain develops in childhood, it does so in certain specific stages. The inhibition of these reflexes are a good sign that the higher brain areas are developing normally, each one during its specific stage. The inhibition of these reflexes are the cornerstone of good postural development AND then good cortical development. Do you know any children struggling with these things? Let's get them checked!