Cissy's note: It's wonderful to see the press Donna Jackson Nakazawa's new book is getting. She's been a guest on the Parenting with ACEs chat series, and crucial in helping ACEsConnection to develop handouts for parents about what helps heal ACEs. Here is an excerpt from a review of her book, The Angel and the Assassin, which was recently published in the Kirkus Reviews.
Translating scientific research into brisk, readable prose, Jackson Nakazawa reports on breakthrough discoveries regarding microglial cells, which function as the brain’s white blood cells, with “enormous power to protect, repair, and repopulate the brain’s billions of neurons and trillions of synapses, or to cripple and destroy them.” But besides functioning as helpful “angels,” they also can spin into overdrive in response to stressors such as infection, environmental toxins, trauma, physical or emotional abuse, and chronic mental stress. When these stressors appear to microglia as if they are biological pathogens, the resulting “frenzied” microglial activity can lead to depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, forgetfulness, lethargy, and similar symptoms. The author follows three autoimmune sufferers whose psychological symptoms were significantly improved by one of the new therapies resulting from microglial research: transcranial magnetic stimulation, neurofeedback, gamma light therapy, and fasting diets.
To read the full review, please go here.
Comments (0)