While working as a paramedic attached to the SWAT team, I witnessed the devastating affects of traumatic brain injury. Brain injuries from an explosion, car accident or repeated head trauma from contact sports have a host of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects. Dementia, depression and muscle wasting often follow. As paramedics responding to high velocity car crashes and shootings, we were able to watch the evolution from point of impact to recovery. I made it a point to visit patients and get updates on their progress. In 1984, advanced imaging technology didn’t exist, so treatment was a guessing game. I somehow knew more could be done.

Fast forward to 2014. I’m working with the best medical research in the US. Thanks to advanced imaging with FMRIs, we tracked the development of new brain tissue and documented our treatment protocol. We videotaped one of our patients with a traumatic brain injury over 4 years. I was watching the face of a well-known neurologist as he previewed our before-and-after video and could see that he got it. The ah-ha moment was real. He said, “Great job. This will be the new direction of neurology, but my practice is too conservative to implement this.”

That’s all I needed. That same week, we showed the video to a company that works directly with DARPA, Advanced Anti Terror Technologies (A2T2). They were developing a new program that focused on neuroplasticity (the development of new brain tissue). After listening to A2T2’s critique of our program, I knew we had developed a game changer.

My team of friends and consultants on this project were: Dr. Ira Goodman, research neurologist; Dr. Tom Hughs, neuro-radiologist; and Dr. George Stanley, MD and owner of three MRI centers. These innovative physicians were always a phone call away for brainstorming sessions.

Our team designed advanced testing and our pharmaceuticals were customized based on biomarkers, blood tests and symptoms for each patient. Using advanced imaging at Dr. Stanley’s MRI center to target localized damage it helps us explain the psychological, physiological and physical manifestations including mood swings, bipolarity, depression, anger, learning disabilities, PTSD as well as severe nutritional and hormonal deficiencies. Many neurologists have just begun to understand the brain-body connection. It turns out that hormonal and nutritional deficiencies slow the process of brain rehabilitation. Our program heals a person faster, getting them back on their feet, helping themselves and others.

Our research shows the best way to encourage neuroplasticity and neurogenesis is to use a multifactorial approach, focusing on Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (better-known as IGF1), exercise and correcting nutritional and hormonal imbalances.

In 2006, the Army’s surgeon general established the Traumatic Brain Injury Task Force to establish a clear picture of the processes and research on how to treat patients. It’s also difficult getting military physicians to change due to costs.

The current treatment protocols for our war veterans and for the NFL are missing the research and other key components to help with recovery as well as all the symptoms that follow an injury. Also, because every patient is biochemically unique, the same treatment protocols will not work for every body. Neurologists treat the brain and body as if they were separate entities. The current treatment for both the war vets and NFL is multiple medications like Prozac, Xanax, and oxycodone for pain followed by talk therapy. Basically, treating symptoms with meds that have a black box warning.

The standard of care is what physicians follow. It’s a guide for treatment protocols. Our program was outside the standard of care, which made many physicians nervous. This is understandable, but the clinical trials right in their hands did the research for them; all they had to do was read. Many just pushed us aside.

This is exactly why we videotaped our treatment and uploaded it to YouTube: to get this information into people’s hands and empower them with evidence-based research that they can hand to their physicians and protect their family members.