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Heal with Regenerative Medicine - Dr. Fawad Mian · Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy

• Mary Meyer [00:00]Welcome back to Healthy, Happy, Wise, Wealthy. I have with us today Dr. Mary Meyer [0:20]: Fawad Mian, and thank you so much Dr. Mian for being here with us today. Mary Meyer [0:25]: Um, Dr. Mian is at the intersection of so many things that, um, are so critical for us, uh, with, uh, f-figuring out from what I've looked with you, is figuring out before we get sick, what can we do to, uh, stay healthy and well. And, uh, I wanna mention our podcast sponsor, who is Mindii, M-I-N-D-I-I-I, and, uh, they are an IT company out of India. Mary Meyer [0:50]: They have a, um, 50, 50 guys, uh, women, men working with them on IT professionals, and they do everything. One of the things I've learned, Dr. Mian, is the term full stack, which I hadn't... I didn't know what that meant for IT, so I had to look it up. But they do... Mary Meyer [1:06]: So if you're making like an app or a website for your, for your company, they do the, the really nice front end. Mary Meyer [1:11]: They do the back end so you can, uh, you know, so that works well, and then maybe connect it with, um, Amazon or other things like that. So the full spectrum, so booking appointments, you know, selling stuff on Amazon, all that kind of stuff. I'm sweating. Dr. Fawad Mian [1:27]: Wow. Mary Meyer [1:28]: I don't even know why. It's, it's morning here. It's a 6:00 AM morning. I just said to said to him. So you're, you're on the East Coast, though, and, um, so- Mary Meyer [1:40]: ... can you just start out, and I know you have a personal story of why you're a neurologist, yes? Dr. Fawad Mian [1:46]: Right. Yes. Uh-huh. Mary Meyer [1:47]: Yeah. So what took you from, what took you into the realm of some of the regenerative medicine and patient education and, uh, the healthcare initiatives, some of those things that you're doing? Dr. Fawad Mian [2:02]: Yeah. Well, first, uh, thanks for having me on the show. I deeply appreciate it and, you know, early start for you. Um, but you know, I, you know, I've been a neurologist since, uh, 2009, and, uh, and initially when I, when I started out, uh, within a short period of time, I, you know, developed some injuries. Uh, and one of the first things that actually happened was I was lifting some weights in the gym. Dr. Fawad Mian [2:25]: The weight slipped a little bit out of my hand, and it injured a small little joint in my shoulder called the AC joint. Dr. Fawad Mian [2:32]: And I, I went to the, the orthopedic doctor, 'cause that's, that's normally what you would do when your shoulder hurts. Mary Meyer [2:38]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [2:39]: And the orthopedic doctor, one of the first things he told me was, "You know what? Maybe we can get a surgery out of you. Maybe you have something called a SLAP tear." Um, that's just, um, you know, in English that basically means some cartilage tear like in your shoulder. Uh, and, and so that's what that was. Uh, you know, unfortunately I had an MRI which did not show that, because I didn't want surgery. Dr. Fawad Mian [2:59]: I've had surgeries in the past, too, as well for various other things. Uh, but there was a lot of arthritis in there, and so, you know, I had the, you know, the doctor just, uh, inject... Well, actually not the doctor, the PA actually injected steroids into my shoulder joint, uh, twice. Dr. Fawad Mian [3:14]: Um, still didn't feel that great. I couldn't sleep on my shoulder. I, I couldn't lift my arm above my head or, you know, putting on a jacket would be a little bit tough, putting on a shirt, and it was pretty miserable at the time. You know, at the same time I would also have patients come into the neurology office coming from pain doctors and other orthopedic doctors, and they told me, "You know, these, the issues that are coming in are neurological. Dr. Fawad Mian [3:36]: They're not orthopedic, nor are they really pain-related. Go see the neurologist." And I would always scratch my head, like, this doesn't seem to make sense because it seems like they have these chronic musculoskeletal issues that are going on that may not be addressed. And so while all this was happening, uh, one day I ha-had gotten some new shoes and, um, probably like the second day I was wearing them, started walking, my foot just started hurting all of a sudden. Dr. Fawad Mian [4:00]: And just to give you context, you know, I did training in New York City for several years, so I was always walking everywhere in dress shoes all the time. Mary Meyer [4:06]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [4:07]: And so I was using these shoes and, you know, I'm in New Jersey now, and I'm walking around, and now my foot is starting to hurt. Like, that's odd. Those shoes must be really bad. Dr. Fawad Mian [4:15]: So I switched out my shoes, but the pain didn't go away, and it kind of lingered, and I did what everybody else would do. I, you know, put my feet up. Dr. Fawad Mian [4:22]: I put... Iced it, stayed off of it, did all of that. When all that was not helping, I went to the foot doctor, uh, 'cause again, that's, that's what you do. You go to the foot doctor. And the foot doctor took some X-rays, uh, gave me some expensive orthotics, which I thought would help, so I, you know, went and got them, which actually didn't make things h- uh, didn't help much things at all. It actually made things worse. Um, but he said I had something called plantar fasciitis, which is just a way of saying that the tissue underneath the foot is actually irritated. Dr. Fawad Mian [4:50]: And so I had gotten some steroid injections, just like I did with my shoulder and, you know, I'd gone through one round, didn't work. Went through a second round, marginally worked. And then finally I got the third round, and I was like, "You know what? I think I'm 50% better now at least." So I was like, all right, just was, third time was the charm really to make, have an effect. Dr. Fawad Mian [5:11]: And so I went to the, the gym to run 'cause I wanted to exercise again, and that was actually a mistake because I ended u-ended up irritating my Achilles tendon, which is the tissue on the back of the heel. Mary Meyer [5:23]: Geez. Dr. Fawad Mian [5:23]: I'm still not 40 yet at this point, and all this stuff is kind of breaking down. Dr. Fawad Mian [5:27]: And I went back to the foot doctor. He did various other treatments, and things still weren't working out. As this was happening, it started changing the way that I walked, because once things start breaking down, we're all kind of interconnected together. Dr. Fawad Mian [5:39]: And so it changed the way that I walk, and so now my left knee was hurting. Just to give you background of my left knee, I tore my ACL, um, around 2001 and had it surgically repaired. Or at least so I thought it was. Dr. Fawad Mian [5:54]: Uh, and I was walking around, my knee was hurting, and I, um, you know, I went to the, uh... Dr. Fawad Mian [6:00]: Well, I basically had one of my colleagues write me up an MRI script, uh, after he looked at it, and-You know, I had, uh, an MRI of my knee. It showed just a little bit of fluid, but it showed that the ACL that was theoretically surgically repaired wasn't really repaired. Uh, and so it was just-- my, my knee was irritated. So between my shoulder, my foot, my Achilles, my knee, you can see like the downward spiral of everything that's kind of happening here, which is small little injuries that kind of keep piling up. Mary Meyer [6:25]: And that's- Dr. Fawad Mian [6:26]: And so I would see similar things kind of also with my, my patients too as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [6:30]: And, um, you know, in terms of the knee, I went to another orthopedic doctor and kind of just tugged on my knee a little bit without really looking at me and, uh, said that he needed to scope my knee, uh, see what he could look and see what he could do with that. And I, I was like, "I d- I don't really wanna do that. It doesn't make any sense. I don't know why you would wanna really do that for the injury that I have." Um, and so, uh, between the shoulder doctor, the foot doctor, and this orthopedic doctor, they all kind of recommended surgery. Dr. Fawad Mian [6:59]: The, uh, shoulder doctor recommended, "You know what? You have some arthritis there. Maybe we just need to chop off part of the bone." Like, I don't really wanna chop off part of the bone. I wanna keep with what I, I came in this, into this world with. Um- Mary Meyer [7:12]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [7:12]: ... so I wanted to keep that. Um, and then, you know, the foot doctor was like, "You know what? Your Achilles is bothering you really bad. Maybe we need to shave down the bone." What really needs to be said is that it's, you know, you gotta detach the tendon, shave the bone down, reattach it back onto the heel. You're in a boot, and you're kind of limping around or on crutches for like a good period of time, so it's not like just a small thing that's done there. Dr. Fawad Mian [7:34]: It's a protracted recovery for something like that. And in terms of the knee, I don't have an ACL or anything like that still, but I kind of looked for alternative treatments. And, you know, I stumbled on something called prolotherapy a long time ago, uh, and so I went to get some training out west. Dr. Fawad Mian [7:52]: I'm closer to your neck of the woods over there. Mary Meyer [7:54]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [7:54]: And, um, you know, I had some injections, uh, done on, you know, myself at the time. Dr. Fawad Mian [8:00]: I was learning and training. Um, and then as time went along, I learned about PRP within shortly right after that, 2012, 2013. Dr. Fawad Mian [8:10]: And, you know, I started implementing that as far back as then, uh, with my patients too as well, because I was tired of seeing all these chronic pain patients where they were told things were neurological, when I really thought they, kinda honestly, they w- they really weren't. They were just, um, you know, they were downstream effects from the injury, essentially. And so I implemented that in terms of my foot and my Achilles. Dr. Fawad Mian [8:31]: I had PRP into that, um, for my Achilles several times because it was that bad. The plantar fascia got better. Dr. Fawad Mian [8:39]: In terms of my shoulder, thankfully I didn't opt for chopping out anything. Um, you know, I did PRP and prolotherapy on my shoulder my, by myself to get that better, where, you know, now I can sleep on it, I can throw stuff, I can put my jacket on. Dr. Fawad Mian [8:52]: I don't have to worry about that. You know, in terms of my foot and my ankle, I don't have to wear Frankenstein shoes anymore. Dr. Fawad Mian [8:57]: Uh, you know, I, I can kind of use the footwear that I wanted to use. And so as time went along, I, I slowly implemented this into my practice and to the point where, you know, I've treated several family members too as well. My own mom was, was quite skeptical of many different things in general. And, you know, it felt like it was just a great alternative to people, uh, for people who didn't wanna ha- do drugs or surgery. Dr. Fawad Mian [9:19]: For myself, from what I did, you know, I couldn't take pain meds all the time. I know that the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories that we take are actually detrimental overall to our health the more that we take them. Dr. Fawad Mian [9:29]: You know, they can impair your immunity. They can impair your ability to actually heal. They can actually destroy your kidneys over time, which I've actually seen on a couple of patients a long time ago, uh, who kind of abused them. Um, and they increase your risk of bleeding too as well, and so you can bleed internally from them. Uh, and then some of them also have black box warnings for heart attacks too as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [9:51]: So it's not something you wanna just chronically utilize just as a way to, to get by. And so this is when we integrated that. We also integrated more holistic-based treatments in our, um, practice as well. Uh, because there are many patients who simply don't wanna be on medications, we integrate some level of functional medicine along with that in terms of trying to make everybody, uh, good, not only from the outside, but then also from the inside. Mary Meyer [10:12]: Yeah. Well, I really appreciate that, 'cause I, I know when I go to the doctor, I, I want the most natural solution that you have. Mary Meyer [10:21]: Like, if you could just tell me I need to eat berries, uh, you know, whatever it is, or do this stretch, but that really isn't how doctors tend to be trained- Mary Meyer [10:34]: ... uh, in general. So I'm, I'm always so grateful to find a doctor, so you have all the intellectual knowledge and that intense amount of training, and then you've, you know, done more, more training, uh, to be more holistic, and I very much appreciate that. So the, um, the... Mary Meyer [10:56]: Can you tell me more about the therapy that you used, um, the pro- the... Did you say prolotherapy or, um- Dr. Fawad Mian [11:04]: Prolotherapy. Yeah Mary Meyer [11:04]: ... PRP? Uh, I know there's, um, a clinic I've worked with out here, um- Mary Meyer [11:10]: ... that they use that. Can you explain what that is a little bit more? Dr. Fawad Mian [11:14]: Yeah, sure. So prolotherapy has been something that's been around for a really long time. Just, um, even then I kinda was part of an orga- you know, I kinda even did a medical mission, uh, uh, with a certain organization that goes out to, um, Central America to treat patients too as well. And so what this really entails, it entails a solution that actually causes like a local, uh, a localized area of damage and creates an inflammatory reaction that tells your cells to come to the area to try to help heal it. Dr. Fawad Mian [11:43]: So a common thing that's utilized is something called dextrose, which is essentially sugar. Um- Mary Meyer [11:48]: Okay Dr. Fawad Mian [11:48]: ... there are other types, other, um, substances that can be used too as well, but that's by far the most common one. Um, and then what PRP is, is it's called platelet-rich plasma, and so that essentially is the blood that we extract, um, from ourselves. Um, we draw it out, we spin it down, we concentrate the growth factor, uh, the growth factors, the platelets that are actually inside the... Dr. Fawad Mian [12:12]: of the blood, and they have a lot of, uh, growth factors that can help, help heal once they degranulate or open up essentially. And so, you know, that kind of, uh, is a bit different than the prolotherapy because it's coming with more growth factors to help heal the area, whereas the prolotherapy is telling the local cells to come to the area of damage and whatnot. This kind of does a little bit of both. And then when you go one step further up, I mean, we also do autologous stem cell therapies too as well, uh, which is basically coming from your own bone marrow and, and also fat too as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [12:42]: But that's kind of like having like the foreman, construction crew, and everybody just orchestrating everything in terms of trying to get things healed and, um, um, ultimately over time. And then there's, you know, the idea of trying to help, um, regenerate the tissue or the cartilage. And so we have to be careful about saying those kinds of things essential a- as well because more studies need to be done. Dr. Fawad Mian [13:04]: But the proof is in the pudding in the sense when we do the imaging or we look back at the tissue or the area of damage and we see that it's improved after doing the injection, uh, you know, shows you that it lends itself to actually doing that. Mary Meyer [13:17]: Yeah. That's great. So I know, uh, patient education is a big part of what, uh, you're doing is, you know, and, and you have a, you have a at least one book out I know, I've seen. Dr. Fawad Mian [13:28]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [13:29]: Um, what, what kind of things are you doing to, for patient education? Dr. Fawad Mian [13:34]: Yeah. So I mean, things that we do in our office, so the, the book that you mentioned is called, um, it's called, um, Getting to Pain Free. Mary Meyer [13:43]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [13:43]: Uh, you know, how to live your life without, uh, drugs or surgery. And I wrote this actually during the pandemic, you know, because we, we all had that kind of free time back then. Mary Meyer [13:53]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [13:53]: And so I, I kinda wrote then. It kind of chronicled just, uh, a little bit longer version of what I talk- talked to you about, as well as some patient cases. Dr. Fawad Mian [14:01]: And, um, it also goes into things with, um, diet, exercise, um, gratitude, um, mindset, those kinds of things. And so, you know, it was, you know, it's being utilized as a tool to show you that, hey, there are other alternatives to get better ultimately. Dr. Fawad Mian [14:18]: And so that's something that we, you know, we provide to patients too as well in showing that, hey, you know, you don't have to do steroid injections. You don't necessarily have to do surgery. You don't have to take pain medications, which can be quite addictive and quite, you know, there's a lot of patients that are simply on these things, um, that are not getting much better and, and they're on them. So I think that certainly gives a certain level of education to the patients. Dr. Fawad Mian [14:41]: You know, we also try to make sure that we have newsletters going out too as well to educate patients about different treatments, but also the common things that we treat as well that are also neurological, and different things from a holistic point of view, things that we could do to try to help things. Um, you know, whenever I see patients, you know, in my office, we always talk about, well, what are the lifestyle things that we can do? Dr. Fawad Mian [15:03]: And so initially when they come in, for instance, they're saying, "Okay, my head hurts." Okay, your, your head hurts, but then we start digging back. Okay, is, you know, what are you, you know, what are your stress levels like? How is your sleep? Dr. Fawad Mian [15:14]: You know, what's your exercise level at? And what are the ergonomics of the ar- you know, the area that you're working in? Dr. Fawad Mian [15:20]: Um, you know, how are your hormones? Um, you know, are, have you been exposed to any toxins? Dr. Fawad Mian [15:25]: Have you been sick with anything recently? And just keep digging and digging and digging to things because, you know, tell them, look, you know, the head is the victim in all of this, but we gotta look at all the little different pieces that kind of contribute to making your head hurt essentially. Mary Meyer [15:37]: Right. Dr. Fawad Mian [15:38]: And so we try to go over that essentially and give them more education about that. And I'll even show them, okay, you know, maybe we just on a bare basic level, even if we didn't go that much further, if we eliminated a few of these things or in your diet or did this exercise or consume a little bit more water or just tweaked your sleep a little bit like this and, or change the ergonomics of what you're doing, just at the most basic level that surprisingly a lot of people don't know or, or don't implement, you know, can make like a huge difference. Dr. Fawad Mian [16:07]: I'm just giving you this- Dr. Fawad Mian [16:08]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [16:08]: ... just as one, one particular example. Uh, but that's, you know, some of the ways that we try to implement more patient education. Mary Meyer [16:14]: I love that so much and, um, that is always, like I was saying, always what I'm looking for when I go to the doctor. Uh- Mary Meyer [16:21]: ... and it's hard to find. I can tell you that as soon as you hit menopause as a woman, uh, you go into a doctor's office- Mary Meyer [16:27]: ... and you're just slapping prescriptions out of their hand. They're handing them to you- Dr. Fawad Mian [16:30]: Yeah Mary Meyer [16:30]: ... as fast as you can, and you're slapping them away. I am slapping them away as fast as I can. Dr. Fawad Mian [16:34]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [16:35]: And, and even, you know, I've had one, a doctor say, "Well, you don't need this, but you qualify," like it's a really cool thing, and I'm- Dr. Fawad Mian [16:43]: Yeah Mary Meyer [16:43]: ... I'm sure some pe- women love that, but I'm just not one of them, so Dr. Fawad Mian [16:47]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [16:47]: I'm always looking for things like what is, uh, you know, the... And some of the things you mentioned are just, uh, they're habit things that- Mary Meyer [16:56]: ... really, you know, we have to make an effort to change habits. Like- Mary Meyer [17:01]: ... we have to make an effort, and I'm just saying the things you mentioned, and you tell me if this is correct. But drinking enough water or is, you know, like if you're forward like this all the time, you know- Mary Meyer [17:11]: ... this slouching thing- Dr. Fawad Mian [17:12]: Yeah Mary Meyer [17:13]: ... that's, like we all are, that's gonna affect your neck and- Mary Meyer [17:16]: ... um, you know, are you moving your body, you know? Dr. Fawad Mian [17:20]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [17:20]: Doing exercise. Like, so th- you know, are you just eating junk and, and not drinking water and not moving and then coming in and saying, "I couldn't do anything, so I have to take a prescription"? Dr. Fawad Mian [17:33]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [17:33]: Um, that's gonna cause you other problems probably. Dr. Fawad Mian [17:36]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [17:36]: Um, is that kinda what... Is that kind of a good summary of what you were saying? Dr. Fawad Mian [17:40]: Yeah. I, yeah, I mean, that's like at, at the ver- most basic level without diving, you know, even further and deeper, yeah, I mean, it's common things that, you know, I'll go over that, like at the end of the day, I mean, it's kinda rare that you even hear other patients say that their other doctors even talked about any of this stuff. Mary Meyer [17:58]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [17:59]: And it's probably because they may not be doing much of it anyway either, so they, they, they may not know either. Mary Meyer [18:06]: Yeah. It's, it's, some of this stuff is in it, it is, uh, changing someone's habits. I have, and, or changing my own habits, you know? Mary Meyer [18:15]: I'm sure that's, it's, it's not an easy thing if you've been doing things a certain way for so long and, but- Dr. Fawad Mian [18:21]: Yeah Mary Meyer [18:21]: ... the good news is, um, you know, sometimes I think really minor shifts and... Mary Meyer [18:25]: mobility training or, you know, whatever it might be with your shoulders can, can have a, a big effect on that. Dr. Fawad Mian [18:33]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [18:33]: Um, and, and you see patients for, for all kinds of neurological- Mary Meyer [18:39]: ... problems. I know I've, I've, I've list- was looking at your... Can I read them off, what I, what I saw? Dr. Fawad Mian [18:45]: Yeah, sure. Mary Meyer [18:46]: A lot. Uh, sleep disorders, headaches, seizures, memory issues, sleep apnea, chronic pain, tremors, dizziness, peripheral neuropathy, concussions, Parkinson's- Dr. Fawad Mian [18:56]: Wow Mary Meyer [18:56]: ... essential tremors, which I don't know what that is, stroke, Bell's palsy. Um, and then some more. I can't read my writing. Dr. Fawad Mian [19:07]: That's, that's, uh... Yeah, it's, it's quite a, it's quite a variety of things, and, you know, obviously on the gym side we see, like, you know, a lot of people with shoulder, back, neck issues, uh, elbow issues, foot and ankle as well, too, as well. Um, you know, and so we, you know, when patients come in, they can come with a hodgepodge of different things. Uh, there are also patients that will come in and they may have, like, 10 different things that they, they wanna get looked at, and, you know, it's trying to, like, peel all the layers sometimes can be challenging for, for all those folks, but, you know, we, we try to work through it and try to get them better. Mary Meyer [19:39]: So do you find it's connected? Like, if they come in and have a neurological or brain health issue that is connected to other body im- uh, body issues with pain? Dr. Fawad Mian [19:50]: Yeah. So I mean, you know, here's the thing. You know, when, when it c- you know, so for instance, um, just trying to maybe give you, like, a, like, an example. Dr. Fawad Mian [19:59]: You know, so if somebody has just an, uh, brain, brain fog, for instance, there's gonna be, like, a million different reasons from it, you know, from perimenopause, menopause, to- Dr. Fawad Mian [20:08]: ... medications, gut hormones, things like that. But a lot of times, you know, just, you know, I'll, I'll pick, you know, look at one thing with them. You know, we'll talk about their diet, we'll talk about their gut and how is that going. And I can't tell you how many times people who have headaches have bad gut issues that are, like, going on, and they're like, "Well, how did you know?" Like, "Why are you asking that question? How did you know that I had, like, a stomach issue?" I'm like, "Oh," you know, it's, again, these things are, these things are interconnected here as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [20:34]: You know, we often talk about, at least from the holistic functional medicine world, you know, if the, there are some gut issues, it can lead to downstream effects, um, throughout your body. In, in this case, we're talking about more neurological. And so in order to address the headaches, we may need to address the gut issues a little bit too as well, and that might be able to help make things better ultimately. Um, and so that makes, um, you know, that can make a huge difference. Dr. Fawad Mian [20:56]: So digging into seeing what their food sensitivities may be, what their chronic stressors are, because quite honestly, you know, a lot of, um, stress causes, uh, somatic dysfunction, or meaning it affects your body. It's just from the inside out and you can't see it. Dr. Fawad Mian [21:11]: And so that in and of itself causes physiologic changes, and so you kind of have to work through some of those things as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [21:17]: Um, but again, there, there are a lot of downstream effects from other systemic issues that go on, and they will come in for a theoretical neurological issue when the idea really is it's more of a systemic issue or a gut issue, hormone issue, musculoskeletal issue, or something else. Mary Meyer [21:32]: Yeah. Well, and I, I actually had that experience, uh, this last year where I went to a, a, talk to a brain doctor here- Mary Meyer [21:40]: ... in Reno, who, uh, the Brain Health Institute. Dr. Fawad Mian [21:44]: Okay. Mary Meyer [21:44]: And it was more business, but he, um, he said, "Well, do this pr- you know, the protocol. I've had it on the, um, I've actually had it on the podcast what they do, but-" Mary Meyer [21:54]: And, uh, he's like, "Well, you have some gut issues." Dr. Fawad Mian [21:57]: Oh. Mary Meyer [21:57]: So it's exactly what you said. He said, "But don't tell anyone a brain doctor told you that you have gut issues." Dr. Fawad Mian [22:03]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [22:03]: And I'm like, "I've never had gut issues," but then I started noticing after he said it, I'm like, "Oh, they've developed." Dr. Fawad Mian [22:09]: Oh, wow. Mary Meyer [22:09]: Uh, totally related to, you know, anxiety from probably work situation. So, um, yeah, that's, that's an interesting thing that, um, you can see that. He saw it on a brain scan, um, so. Dr. Fawad Mian [22:24]: Okay. Yeah. That, that, that, that's interesting. Yeah, I mean, you can, you know, the gut issues can also affect things like, like serotonin and other neurotransmitters and things like that. So, uh- Mary Meyer [22:33]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [22:33]: ... that's interesting, you know, with the, with the scan that they were able to see this. I kind of wonder what, what scan they did. Mary Meyer [22:39]: Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. I might have him on too. Maybe I'll do, uh, I'll ask him to come on, and then we'll do a series Dr. Fawad Mian [22:46]: Yeah. Wow, okay. Mary Meyer [22:47]: On brain health. Brain health has, has to do with everything. Dr. Fawad Mian [22:51]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [22:51]: So, uh, I'm really curious 'cause some of these things, you know, like I have family members for, for in- instance, someone who's just had a, a really fast, um, memory issue come on. Mary Meyer [23:04]: So and then another one with, um, more like full-blown Alzheimer's, so. Mary Meyer [23:11]: What are, what are some of the things that you do for, like, memory issues? Dr. Fawad Mian [23:17]: Yeah, so, um, so for memory issues, it's, um, it's kind of, you know, kind of what I was mentioning, where we really need to, um, go back and peel the layers with all of this. And so, you know, I kind of even I have, like, a, a memory course called Reclaim Your Mind that, you know, I rec- you know, just literally just launched. Dr. Fawad Mian [23:38]: Um, and so- Mary Meyer [23:39]: Nice Dr. Fawad Mian [23:39]: ... it kind of talks about, and this is what I talk with a lot of patients, um, especially is, you know, there are so many things that can contribute to your memory problem. Dr. Fawad Mian [23:49]: Um, and I have pa- I mean, I literally have kids coming in who are like in their 20s, "I can't remember things." Dr. Fawad Mian [23:55]: And to people who are much older, the people who are in between. And so, you know, we kind of have to educate folks on that there are so many different things that could actually affect your memory. Doesn't always mean that necessarily everybody's gonna have Alzheimer's or whatnot, but people may be surprised at, like, the things that actually affect their memory. And I'll just, you know, give you some quick examples. Say, for instance, so, um, say, you know, sleep for people. Dr. Fawad Mian [24:19]: You know, sleep, um, you know, I... When we grew up and things like that, there wasn't, uh, the internet, at least until obviously much, much later. And then, you know, uh, cell phones didn't really, um, exist when we were growing up. In college, you still had the little recorded, like, tape recorder for, like, voicemails and things like that. Dr. Fawad Mian [24:40]: And so what I'm getting at is, like, we weren't, like, in a 24/7 society.... essentially. Mary Meyer [24:44]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [24:44]: So it's kind of like constant emails, communication, social media, and all of that. And so, you know, theoretically people were sleeping relatively better at that time. There were other stressors or whatnot, but I commonly see a lot of people, um, who are, are not sleeping very well, um, ultimately. And so when they're not really sleeping really well, you know, what, what kind of can happen then is that, you know, you're not gonna really have the best memory in the world ultimately. Dr. Fawad Mian [25:11]: Uh, and so it- it's not just, you know, the fact that, you know, maybe your mind is racing at night, but it may be disrupted sleep like sleep apnea or abnormal leg movements or abnormal behaviors at night or whatnot. Uh, for some people, you know, with the insomnia it could also be because they're on their phones and their computers up until they're, like, you know, ti- it's time for bed. They're literally, like, scheduling their, their time for bed just like they do the rest of their day, and so it's anxiety-provoking for people too as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [25:37]: And so I can just give you a quick example of, um, you know, in the Northeast we had, like, Superstorm Sandy back in 2012 and, you know, I still had some, you know, some sleep patients, um, that were having difficulty trying to get to sleep. Mary Meyer [25:52]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [25:52]: And, you know, at that time, you know, the power was out for like a week in this area 'cause it, it was that bad, at least the infrastructure with the electricity and... And so now these people who said there was absolutely no way that they could go to sleep at, like, nighttime are now going to bed at, like, 8:00, 8:30 very easily. Dr. Fawad Mian [26:10]: That tells you the power of, you know, you know, what you have with something like this or, you know, your iPad, your tablet, your, your computers and all of that because that can really affect you. Mary Meyer [26:22]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [26:22]: And so when you give your ti- you know, give your mind, uh, some time to quiet down a little bit, you're not exposed to this all day long, you know, that can really help make it easier for somebody to fall asleep. And therefore, as their sleep gets better initiating and consolidating it, they can actually remember things a lot better too as well. Mary Meyer [26:37]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [26:38]: I'm just giving you just simply just one example of something that could be affecting your sleep. There's, there's so many more things from blood pressure- Mary Meyer [26:45]: Right Dr. Fawad Mian [26:45]: ... to blood sugar, which is often, you know, gets, um, brushed aside even for people who are pre-diabetic because, you know, that progressive insulin resistance is gonna cause breakdown throughout the whole body including things upstairs ultimately. And so sometimes it's called like, um, you know, type 3 dia- you know, uh, type 3 diabetes as Alzheimer's essentially. Dr. Fawad Mian [27:06]: It's kind of as the sensory system progresses, like, our sense, you know, that, that's gonna affect our mind. And, and so that really, you know, lends itself to, you know, how we eat, how we exercise, how we take care of ourselves. So that's also really paramount. And I think a lot of times given all the processed foods that are out there and the stuff that we consume, people aren't really paying attention to that. Dr. Fawad Mian [27:27]: Um, you know, if everybody could have, like, a glucose monitor on their arm, if that was ever possible at any point in time, you know, you can really see what happens, for instance, like when you eat something and see what happens to your blood sugar. Dr. Fawad Mian [27:39]: And so, um, you know, I, I have one because I like to keep track of things, uh, but you can tell if you don't eat the right kind of thing, what happens is if you look at, like, a, the graph you'll see it spike like this, and then insulin will shoot in and then drive your blood sugar down to the point where you're almost hypoglycemic, and you start getting shaky and dizzy and all of that. And then you gotta eat again to get that blood sugar up. Mary Meyer [28:00]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [28:00]: So it's this constant yo-yo that's going up and down. Mary Meyer [28:03]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [28:03]: And so but if you eat the right kinds of things, you may see a little bit of a upward spring, and then it comes gradually back down. And you'll notice that, you know, those things don't really occur or whatnot, and mentally you're gonna feel a bit better too as well once your blood sugars are not spiking. So those are just, you know, two quick examples, but even in the course, you know, with patients we go over lots of different factors and things that could be affecting their memory. Dr. Fawad Mian [28:25]: So if we could tackle a lot of those things, that actually can improve people's, uh, ability to prevent Alzheimer's. You know, there's, uh, I think it's quoted around, like, 30% to 40% of cases actually could be prevented if we were more proactive in doing various different things from addressing your sleep, your blood pressure, your blood sugar, um, toxin exposure, and many other things too as well. Mary Meyer [28:45]: That's, that's a significant... So 30% to 40% could be prevented just by taking some time to change our, our habits, uh, is what I'm hearing. Dr. Fawad Mian [28:55]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [28:55]: You know? Watching the... You know, one thing I've started doing is turning off my Wi-Fi at night, but that's- Mary Meyer [29:01]: ... I've, I've, I've been in apartment-- And this is interesting too to me 'cause, like, I think most people don't go from... I've lived in apartments for the last three years-ish, and I've always lived in homes before that. Mary Meyer [29:12]: But I think the Wi-Fi really has interfered with sleep and stuff like that too. Like, there's some-- I, I do think there's some issues with that, so now I've turned it off. Dr. Fawad Mian [29:21]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [29:21]: At... And, um, that helps. But, like, but you know, ha- but turning off, like, trying to make it as dark as you can is hard. Mary Meyer [29:29]: You know? Is helpful to me. Mary Meyer [29:32]: And, you know, not having my phone, not having any electronics in my bedroom. Dr. Fawad Mian [29:37]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [29:37]: And, and just, uh, but, you know, after a while you're like, "I want to, you know, I want to feel good. I don't wanna feel crappy." Mary Meyer [29:45]: You know, "I wanna, I wanna feel decent." And it's hard to, it's hard to, to get there. Like, if, you know, life goes along and you stop exercising regularly- Mary Meyer [29:55]: ... and that totally affects, you know, your gut, your brain, your-- how you feel, how you feel about yourself. Dr. Fawad Mian [30:02]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [30:02]: And, uh, but the life habits aren't... I mean, they're not easy 'cause, you know, life is life, and it can get- Dr. Fawad Mian [30:07]: Right Mary Meyer [30:07]: ... like, tense. Um, but I love that you're focusing on just saying like, "Hey, how are you sleeping?" "Are you turning off, you know-- Are you getting rid of electronics when you need to sleep?" And you know, that, um, and food. So is there, is there foods that you've noticed are good for brain health and stuff that isn't good related to blood pressure or however it is? Mary Meyer [30:31]: Like, how do you, how do you man- how do you manage that? Dr. Fawad Mian [30:34]: Yeah. So it, it depends on the level of what the patient is willing to do, so it's kind of, it's kind of like a little bit of a negotiation to a certain extent, and it also a little bit of commitment on, um, on the end of the individual.Um, but there are, you know, two ways of doing this. I mean, there are certain generic ways of, of helping people out, uh, in general versus taking a deeper dive and seeing food sensitivities. Dr. Fawad Mian [30:58]: Theoretically, people could react to strawberries and kale and not even know it. Um, um, but you know, like in general, I would, I would say things that would be probably based on a very general level of things that actually cause issues in people, um, and, and I think it's pretty well-known is, you know, gluten for instance, uh, can definitely be there. So, um- Mary Meyer [31:19]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [31:19]: ... things that are, you know, bread related, uh, people I've seen have more brain fog on it, have a lot more digestive issues- Mary Meyer [31:26]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [31:26]: ... ultimately versus being off of it. And sometimes, you know, eliminating gluten is all well and good, like you put the bread away and all that, uh, but there can also be cross-contamination with a lot of things too as well from gluten, and so you're gonna have to be diligent about that. Uh, and then it doesn't necessarily mean go to the gluten-free section in the grocery store because they're laden with fillers and sugars, things like that, so it's kind of trying to educate people on that about, um, about these things because that certainly can lead to, like, a lot of brain fog in people too as well. Mary Meyer [31:59]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [31:59]: ... you know, I would, I would say, uh, a lot of processed foods for sure, uh, things that have been refined multiple times. Dr. Fawad Mian [32:06]: Uh, just like I mentioned, even the gluten-free stuff, that stuff can be pretty noxious and, and, and pretty bad for you too. Dr. Fawad Mian [32:13]: And, um, sometimes, you know, it's also just stuff that's really gonna spike your, your blood sugar. So even then, you know, this is... And this is kind of, I'm kind of parsing hairs here, like, a little bit because some people can do well with it, some people not. So even if you ate some of the grains and things like that, even if it was something like quinoa or farro or whatnot, it may be fine for some, but for other people it just might spike their, their blood sugar often. Dr. Fawad Mian [32:36]: So it's kind of that yo-yo that I was kind of, like, mentioning too as well. And so anything that's kind of really spiking that blood sugar, if it's possible to monitor it, um, people may notice that they're more brain fog and tired and fatigued, and it's hard to think. I can tell, you know, if, if I've eaten something that I shouldn't be eating, I feel like my head is, like, somewhere else, and it's hard to think and concentrate. Dr. Fawad Mian [32:58]: My brain is slow. And there are times, you know, you may even feel, like, a little dizzy from doing that. A lot of people may not even have that same, like, um, reaction to eating something or, or, or whatnot until they eliminate a lot of it out of their diet too as well. Mary Meyer [33:13]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [33:13]: But a lot of stuff also with extra laden sugar, things like that. Um, and this is not just, you know, sodas and things like that, which I think a lot of people have cut down on over the years, but it's even like you go to the, you know, the fancy coffee shops, which we all may know, where, you know, there's lots of sugar-laden things that are putting in there, and it's coffee, but it's a high calorie dessert, uh, that's there. Mary Meyer [33:38]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [33:38]: And some people will consume that on a, on a daily basis, uh, unfortunately. So just, you know, things can be disguised as healthy when they're not. Mary Meyer [33:47]: Yeah. Well, uh, you're definitely speaking my language. I, I went gluten, I'll call it gluten light, um, 15 years ago 'cause I, I did a gluten fast with my daughter, and after that I couldn't... It was hard to go back. Dr. Fawad Mian [34:04]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [34:04]: I didn't realize until that point that it was affecting me. Mary Meyer [34:07]: And, uh, and sometimes sourdough and, uh, or pasta from made in Italy I can do better with, but I've noticed even that is, um, I feel that super heavy, need to go take a nap- Mary Meyer [34:21]: ... don't quite feel right. So which is such a bummer. Dr. Fawad Mian [34:25]: Yeah, I know. Mary Meyer [34:26]: You still have some. Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [34:28]: Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. 'Cause yeah, 'cause yeah, there are some people that can do that and tolerate it better- Mary Meyer [34:33]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [34:33]: ... and some people not so much, and that's kind of where it comes down to the individual. Like, I can tell you just, you know, just, you know, to that example, you know, I had a patient who, you know, originated from Ethiopia and, you know, I was telling her, saying, "Look, we gotta cut this out, cut this out." But she's like, "Why? When I go back to my country I eat all sorts of bread and I do everything. Dr. Fawad Mian [34:51]: I start losing weight, my body stops hurting." And so I can tell you too, you know, the quality of the food is ultimately, you know, how much better it is abroad and less, uh- Mary Meyer [35:01]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [35:01]: ... less things that are put in them. Mary Meyer [35:04]: Yeah. I think the, um, United States is, is a trash, trash bin. The food can be just a trash bin- Mary Meyer [35:12]: ... unfortunately, and I'm not sure what to do about that except for I, I keep talking about it. Dr. Fawad Mian [35:18]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [35:19]: Maybe if we all get mad, something will happen. But, so you said you're doing... You're, you're starting some patient, uh, education about this, or what did you say you're starting related to this? Dr. Fawad Mian [35:32]: Yeah, so there is, um, you know, so there is a, a brain course that I have called Reclaim Your Mind. Mary Meyer [35:39]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [35:39]: Just literally just, just put it out, and can always give you more details about that. Uh, but it's, it's something where, um, it goes into a lot of the details of what could cause memory issues and to tackle things. And so, you know, just like I do in my practice, I, I try to have some things that are proactive as much as possible. Dr. Fawad Mian [36:00]: So at the end of the day, you know, we have, we do have patients that are already at the end of the spectrum, and then they're... You know, they can be really, really hard to treat, or they may be so far gone there's not much left in terms of what you could add and do, even though there's small tweaks you could do. But inevitably that downward spiral is, is kind of to that point where there's, there's no return really from that. Mary Meyer [36:20]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [36:20]: And so, you know, just use that example of, like, you know, we don't wanna end up over there like many patients do who don't take care of themselves. We wanna try to be on the proactive side. And so it kind of goes over, um, again, you know, various different things from, um, you know, I mentioned like sleep, diet, exercise, um, other factors too as well, like toxic exposures. Dr. Fawad Mian [36:40]: And it also talks about more about, um, you know, different things that can be looked at or things can be checked by your doctor, ways to be screened too as well.And so that people can take a little bit more of a proactive approach in terms of trying to, uh, improve their memory ultimately or tackle those things so that they don't get into that boat. Uh, it's not something where it's gonna give you all these brain exercises and all that 'cause there's a million things. Dr. Fawad Mian [37:03]: Those things are online, and they're everywhere and whatnot, but it's kind of more how do we try to prevent from going from point A to point B in terms of, you know, what, what I've seen, like, in, in the gamut of patients over the years or whatnot. And I think, you know, that's something that certainly can be valuable in today's day and age when, you know, a lot of people, you know, there may be people, like, between their 40s and 60s who are struggling with taking care of, you know, their kids, working, and doing everything, and then they feel like their mind is going a little bit, and they don't have control over that. Mary Meyer [37:33]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [37:33]: And so that can be quite difficult. So it's kind of really targeted to a lot of those folks in that, in that age range where they feel like things are starting to slip and are wondering, "What can we do? What kinds of things can we tackle?" Mary Meyer [37:44]: I, I love that. So is, is Reclaim Your Mind, is that on one of your, um, websites? Mary Meyer [37:49]: Or how can... Can you just put that out there? Dr. Fawad Mian [37:50]: Yeah, there, there is, there's a link on our website, prolohealing, um, .com. Mary Meyer [37:55]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [37:55]: And then we can also, um, provide the link to you, uh, with the show notes too as well. Mary Meyer [38:00]: Yeah, that'd be great. Mary Meyer [38:01]: That'd be great. I'm very interested in that. Well, and I, I probably can say this on the show, but, like, y- you know, we just had a family, um, incident where, um, my, my eldest aunt, uh, went very quickly from just having a few, like, things that weren't quite right with memory to- Mary Meyer [38:18]: ... being in a place, uh, that wasn't memory care but assisted living to- Mary Meyer [38:24]: ... walking out and into the cold, 30 degrees, and we didn't find her for a long time, and she could have died, and that happened within the course of a few weeks. Dr. Fawad Mian [38:33]: Uh-huh. Mary Meyer [38:34]: So, like, uh, that's... It's- it's very, um, very concerning when you have- Mary Meyer [38:40]: ... something like that go on. And it was so fast, it's like certainly maybe there's a, a fast, you know, upswing to it too. Mary Meyer [38:48]: But I think, you know, as, as, uh, life goes on, it just, these things can become very much very personal, you know, to, to- Dr. Fawad Mian [38:56]: Absolutely Mary Meyer [38:56]: ... family and to yourself, and, and, um, they have names that, names and people attached to them, or it's yourself, you know? Dr. Fawad Mian [39:05]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [39:05]: So. Dr. Fawad Mian [39:05]: Absolutely. Mary Meyer [39:06]: Yeah. Yeah, and I've, I've dealt with brain fog I think my whole adult life, and going back, it, it, it was, um... I didn't realize it for a long time it was Lyme's disease. Mary Meyer [39:17]: Didn't know it for, like, 15 years or something like that. Dr. Fawad Mian [39:21]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [39:21]: It's almost there's, there's an emotional component to that too 'cause you just feel like you wanna hide it. Mary Meyer [39:28]: You don't want people to know that you're not, uh, fully functioning, I think. Mary Meyer [39:34]: Especially when you don't have an answer for it. So, um, I just, that's another reason I like to talk through these things and, like, you know, and, and find people who know a bunch of stuff and see what you can do. Mary Meyer [39:46]: Um, out of curiosity, do you ever recommend, um, detox protocols for people? Is that part of what you do or not really? Dr. Fawad Mian [39:56]: To a certain extent, uh, with things 'cause I think also, depending on what the condition is, um, you also have to be a bit careful, especially if you're gonna chelate things and things like that too as well. Mary Meyer [40:08]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [40:09]: Um, but, you know, for instance, you know, to, for instance, um, not necessarily like a detox protocol but, you know, you mentioned Lyme too as well. I mean, we do have things that we have patients on to help them, especially post-Lyme, to help with cognitive function, pain, and all that too as well, which, you know, we've had s- you know, some success with too as well over the years too. Um, but it, it's also, you know, in terms of, you know, dietary things too as well, it's kind of more of, like, an elimination kind of thing, uh, and then refine things based on food sensitivities and gut protocols and things like that, uh, but not necessarily, like, any, like, um, IVs or anything like that that, uh, would help with, um, I think detoxification or whatnot. Dr. Fawad Mian [40:50]: But there are herbal ways to, like, do detoxification too. And so- Dr. Fawad Mian [40:54]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [40:54]: ... there are certain protocols you can use with, like, the liver and, and, and whatnot, and the gut too as well to try to help with detoxification. Mary Meyer [41:01]: Yeah. Yeah, and I did that for a while. It's been a quite a while, but I, I went through- Mary Meyer [41:06]: ... a couple years of different things like that, um, herbal detox, and I think now it's, it's really like I really just feel like I need to be sweating. Mary Meyer [41:15]: So, like, not like I was at the beginning of the podcast where that was a hot flash, and I hardly ever have hot flashes anymore, but- Dr. Fawad Mian [41:21]: Yeah Mary Meyer [41:21]: ... like, you know, working out and sweating or getting in a sauna and sweating and, and man, I do feel- Mary Meyer [41:27]: ... a lot better after, after sweating, which is another habit kind of thing. Dr. Fawad Mian [41:31]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [41:31]: Um, so body's det- detox pathway. Mary Meyer [41:35]: Okay, so you have, you have t- a couple different, um, websites, uh- Mary Meyer [41:40]: ... Advocare, Neural Wellness- Mary Meyer [41:42]: ... and then Prolo Healing. Mary Meyer [41:44]: So, um, are... D- do those things hit different, um... You know, w- why, why is there two? Should I... Dr. Fawad Mian [41:52]: There's two. Uh, yeah, there's, there's a reason why there's two, and so it, it's kind of trying to parse things out a little bit. Dr. Fawad Mian [41:59]: Um, and so with the Advocare, um, Neural Wellness, MD, it's kind of more geared towards more specific neurological issues and things like that. Mary Meyer [42:09]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [42:09]: You know, whereas the, um, Ascend Regenerative or prolohealing.com website kind of goes more towards more on the regenerative side with everything, um, more on the holistic side with everything. Mary Meyer [42:21]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [42:21]: And so we're just trying to give people presenting information in two different ways, and so that kind of lets people focus in on the things or at least the issues that they wanna come in for. Dr. Fawad Mian [42:31]: They can focus on those with- without being confused essentially. So we're trying to make, create more clarity in terms of where to go versus putting it all together with every single thing, and then it's confusing. Mary Meyer [42:42]: Yeah. It's a lot of information to digest, for sure. Mary Meyer [42:46]: And, and I don't think I could even begin to, to pick your brain on everything in, in one podcast 'cause, uh, you know a lot. But, so you're doing some other... One thing I saw on your website was a, um, M7 laser. Dr. Fawad Mian [43:00]: Yeah. So, you know, with the regenerative side, you know, it's, you know, just colloquially, I mean, it's prolotherapy, PRP, autologous stem cells essentially. Mary Meyer [43:10]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [43:11]: Um, but, you know, the different modalities that we also will utilize to help heal and make things better, you know, outside of the internal holistic stuff that we mentioned. But, um, two of those treatments, one of which you mentioned, is the, the ML7 laser, and so that's called a, um, a, a class IV laser. And so just in layman's terms what that means is most class IV lasers would be the ones that actually burn things. Mary Meyer [43:34]: Okay. Dr. Fawad Mian [43:34]: And so this one doesn't. It actually works at, like, uh, two different wavelengths, one to help with more acute inflammation, one to help with more chronic inflammation and damage. And so the idea behind this is to try to get over some of the a- the acute inflammation or the acute pain one is in, but also to help with the chronic inflammation of the pain. And so when we use it with regenerative treatments, when we're trying to, you know, initiate PRP stem cells or prolotherapy into the area of damage, um, you know, the we- there's something called photobiomodulation, which is what this laser does, and so it actually works on a cellular level where it can help, um, with the repair and the healing, uh, at a faster rate ultimately. Dr. Fawad Mian [44:11]: You know, that's what we're looking to do with that. And so it also will help smooth out some of the ups and downs you may after- you may have after a regenerative treatment because, uh, many people may not know that it actually takes time to heal. Uh, it's not something that's like instantaneous or it happens like in a week or so for some people. Mary Meyer [44:27]: Right. Dr. Fawad Mian [44:28]: Uh, so it takes time. So it helps smooth some of that stuff out in between and helps, um, diminish that pain in between and helps with the healing too as well. And so we find that pretty helpful for, um, those procedures that we do. Dr. Fawad Mian [44:41]: Even as a standalone, if for somebody who has been in a lot of chronic pain and is not a surgical candidate for anything, or they may not even be a regenerative candidate, then that's something that can dampen down their pain a lot too as well, where they can become more functional. So even though it's not a 100% kind of thing, it's something where if we're able to give somebody, you know, between 50 to 80% improvement ultimately, that could be like a huge lifestyle change for somebody, where they actually can do the things that they actually want to do. Mary Meyer [45:08]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [45:09]: And so then on top of that, we also have like shockwave treatment. And so shockwave treatment basically are like s- um, pressurized waves that help stimulate, um, internal healing too as well to the areas of damage. And so it's been used in sports medicine for a while, even in podiatry too. Dr. Fawad Mian [45:26]: And so we'll often combine that also with our regenerative treatments because we're, we're trying to hit things from multiple different angles. And so what I've found, and you know, this is even by mistake many years ago when we were doing things, is inevitably if we're able to get multiple pieces going at the same time, the outcome is gonna be better too as well. No different than when somebody comes in and we talk about headaches and I'm telling them, just say for example, we're gonna work on this gut related thing, this exercise, this ergonomic thing, uh, consume more water, and a few other things too as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [45:58]: It's multiple things as well. It's not the, the idea of, well, you know, when drug reps and they try to come into the office and say, "Are you prescribing my medication?" Like, no, that one pill is not gonna be the solution to all this, and, uh, I don't really do that all the time. It's, it depends on what, you know, really helps the individual ultimately. And so at least on the regenerative side, just, you know, just adding all those things together I feel like gives a better outcome ultimately in terms of improving that person's pain- Mary Meyer [46:23]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [46:24]: ... um, versus sometimes just being a simple standalone, even though standalone simply can work as well, it sometimes just may take a little longer. Mary Meyer [46:31]: So like a standalone can work, um, do-- what do you mean by that? Dr. Fawad Mian [46:36]: So meaning, you know, we, we-- it's not like we don't do regenerative procedures as by itself without laser or shockwave or anything. We've been doing that for like a long time. And so, you know, people can obviously still get well with that and do well with that depending on where they're at functionally with everything. Dr. Fawad Mian [46:51]: There are those folks who, you know, may respond to that, but to get like a higher level of improvement and relief or elimination, they may need those additional modalities of treatment to help them get there. Mary Meyer [47:03]: Yeah. So I imagine there's-- you have people come to you from different parts. Does-- do people come from different parts of the country when they hear about stuff? Or is it- Dr. Fawad Mian [47:13]: Yeah, I mean pe- Dr. Fawad Mian [47:13]: Yeah. I mean more, you know, within the local states that are nearby, you know, we have people come by too as well. Mary Meyer [47:20]: Yeah. It is hard to find someone who, who knows the-- so much and-- but will do the, the, the natural, you know, give the natural options and stuff like that. So it's, um... I know there's some things like that in Reno, um, not necessarily what you're doing, but little pieces of it. Dr. Fawad Mian [47:38]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [47:38]: I know I've had people on who do PRP or do, um-- have different laser treatments or whatever. So it's a thing you can, you can find probab- you know, if you, if you look in your community, maybe you gotta travel a little bit or- Dr. Fawad Mian [47:52]: Yeah Mary Meyer [47:52]: ... maybe just go have a, a, a nice week somewhere else. Dr. Fawad Mian [47:59]: Yeah, I know, it i- it is. Like even then, I mean, I've had, you know... For treatments I, I can't do on myself, I mean, I'll go travel somewhere to, to get it done. Dr. Fawad Mian [48:09]: And so that's not uncommon. Not everybody may have those kinds of means to do that or, or whatnot, but you know, I feel like, you know, compared to what it was when I started doing this, 'cause there weren't a lot of resources when I started even. I mean, yeah, back 2011, 2012, it's not like it's ancient history, but there was just a lot of resources that just weren't even there at that point. So it was kind of hard to find anything at that point. Mary Meyer [48:30]: Right. Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [48:31]: Now there's so much. If you, you know, we just look around a little bit and then try to do our due diligence and vet things, and we can certainly find things that could be helpful. Mary Meyer [48:40]: Yeah, for sure. Um, and you have, and you have these great, uh, resources for people. So you have your book, and then you have the course that's coming out. Mary Meyer [48:51]: And, um, and of course you-- there are these things that you were talking about that are actually free- Mary Meyer [48:58]: ... um, which is just changing, changing your habits can be free. Dr. Fawad Mian [49:03]: Doesn't cost you a dime Mary Meyer [49:05]: What's that? Dr. Fawad Mian [49:07]: Doesn't cost you a dime. If anything, it would probably- Dr. Fawad Mian [49:09]: Right Dr. Fawad Mian [49:09]: ... save you money by making those habit changes because it will cost you less in terms of missed work, um, chronic issues that you may have that require medications or surgical options. Mary Meyer [49:22]: Yeah, for sure. Um, okay, so another, uh, question based on, you know, family members. What, what about dizziness? Dr. Fawad Mian [49:30]: Yeah. So that's one of those things where there's a million things that can cause dizziness. Mary Meyer [49:35]: Okay Dr. Fawad Mian [49:36]: ... so, so it's so ri- so multifaceted, and so when people talk about dizziness, one of the most common things people talk about is BPV or benign positional vertigo, where essentially what happens is their crystal in the ear canals, that kind of just dislodges a little bit and they make people acutely dizzy, and things spin around, they feel nauseous. Dr. Fawad Mian [49:57]: And then it's kind of self-limited, but people can have recurrences. And, you know, ENT doctors talk about vestibular migraines, which is a di- a nebulous diagnosis. Dr. Fawad Mian [50:06]: They could be ear infections. You know, there could be so many different things that can lead to that. And so whenever I look at a patient, I'll, I'll ask all sorts of questions related to that, but I'll also ask them, "Okay, what kind of medications are you taking?" You know, because medications in and of themselves can make people feel sick without realizing it, uh, and not feel so well, and we see that often in, in patients too as well. Dr. Fawad Mian [50:29]: Another thing that's also overlooked, uh, I feel is chronic musculoskeletal issues, particularly affecting the neck, uh, because there's a lot of what we call proprioceptive input to the head, uh, and the eyes. And if you look at things anatomically, if you looked at a model or whatnot, how close all of these things are essentially. And so it's like this really elaborate, uh, connection, uh, system that, you know, our brain and our, our balance centers are ultimately with everything. Dr. Fawad Mian [50:56]: And so if you kind of throw anything out of whack, then that certainly can make people feel more dizzy and more lightheaded. And so, you know, just say like on the regenerative side, when we've seen people who have had, you know, headaches that have been raging for a period of time, and they get dizzy, changes in their vision. Dr. Fawad Mian [51:12]: You know, for instance, we may do diagnostic blocks back there and find out that their symptoms are elimi- eliminated for a couple of days or a week or two. You know, and hey, these migraines and this dizziness you've had has been coming from your neck the whole time. It's just you've been covering it up with pain pills essentially to try to make things better or whatnot. And so addressing that underlying issue, you know, say for this example would be something like PRP say for instance, to help stabilize the ligaments, tendons, the joints, would help eliminate something like that. Dr. Fawad Mian [51:41]: Um, so that's just one scenario. You know, another scenario is, you know, again, what are we consuming? You know, whether it's gluten or dairy or sugar or something else, those things certainly can make people feel not the best in the world, and so being able to look at that deeper is really important. Mary Meyer [51:58]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [51:58]: Uh, for the younger folks that are out there in particular, I mean, you know, supplements are all well and good once we know why we're using it, the quality of the supplement, and I do realize they're not FDA regulated, but I feel like there's a difference between supplements from company to company still. You know? Mary Meyer [52:14]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [52:14]: I've trialed things over a long period of time and, you know, some things will work better than others. Doesn't mean it works for everybody or whatnot, but a lot of people may take supplements and things like that, that actually make them feel sick, and they don't feel well, and they don't realize it to as well. It's causing an issue that they, they don't understand. Mary Meyer [52:31]: Yeah. Dr. Fawad Mian [52:31]: And so it's kind of looking at all these things to peel those layer backs, you know, which are important. And then for some people they may need to have, you know, a vestibular therapy along with the gait therapy integrated so that it actually helps them too as well. And we're talking about things from nutrition to musculoskeletal issues to therapy or what not. Again, it kind of goes back to that, you know, multifaceted approach in terms of just trying to help someone get through everything. Mary Meyer [52:54]: Yeah. And we're, we're all inter- we're an interconnected being. Dr. Fawad Mian [52:58]: Yeah. Mary Meyer [52:58]: So, you know, it is, it is really interesting to me too. I, I think the shoulders and neck can affect so much. Mary Meyer [53:06]: ... we hold weight of the world on our shoulders, and the stress goes there and we tighten up and... or we're- Dr. Fawad Mian [53:13]: Yeah Mary Meyer [53:13]: ... you know, we're looking like this and the neck is not, not right, um, from the devices. Mary Meyer [53:21]: So yeah, that's an interesting area to look at for sure, and, um, probably a lot that can be done. Dr. Fawad Mian [53:28]: Yeah. It's, it's... There's always so many different things with that. So it, it's always interesting, you know, depending on what the, you know, the individual comes in with. Mary Meyer [53:36]: Yeah, for sure. Uh, well, um, Dr. Mehan, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. Can you tell people how to get ahold of you, how to book an appointment with you? Dr. Fawad Mian [53:49]: Yeah. So I mean, the websites that you, you mentioned, so I mean there's prolohealing.com, you know, for more on the regenerative side, and then there's also advocareneurowellnessmd for more on the neurological side. So those are websites there, and you can book an appointment, give us a call through there. Mary Meyer [54:06]: Nice. And you're in New Jersey? Dr. Fawad Mian [54:09]: New Jersey, yes. Mary Meyer [54:10]: Yes. Okay. So if you're in the New Jersey area or if you just wanna just head out there. And then for people who aren't in your area, you have, uh, the resources that we mentioned, the... Can you get the book? Where do you get the book? Where's the best place to get that? Dr. Fawad Mian [54:25]: Uh, the book is on Amazon, so pretty easy to get, uh, with that. So that's, that's helpful. Um, you know, also provide also the links for, um, the memory course and even like the quiz that kind of sees like, you know, do you really have a memory issue or not? Dr. Fawad Mian [54:41]: And we can certainly- Mary Meyer [54:42]: Yeah Dr. Fawad Mian [54:42]: ... provide those links. You can give them in like in the show notes and all that. Mary Meyer [54:46]: I'm very interested in that. Mary Meyer [54:48]: So awesome. Well, thank you again so much for your time. I appreciate it, and, uh, enjoy the rest of your day. Dr. Fawad Mian [54:56]: All right. You too. Thanks so much for having me on the show.