Jan 22, 2020
My guest this week is Stephanie Belseth,
a board-certified Pediatric Nurse
Practitioner with over 25 years of experience in inpatient
and outpatient primary care, pulmonology, asthma, early childhood
screening, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Stephanie has a
special interest in holistic wellness care, Gastrointestinal
disorders, Autism, ADHD, Asthma, mental health
disorders, PANS/PANDAS, Autoimmune
disease, Pediatric Lyme and
conditions that mimic it, and other complex chronic pediatric
conditions.
In this episode, Stephanie and I discuss the various infections
that we see in children who are struggling with
neurodevelopmental issues. We also highlight some of the
environmental dangers (right in your own home) like EMF radiation
and mold, that could be exacerbating these issues. Finally,
Stephanie walks us through some examples of treatment protocols for
these issues that are very encouraging for parents and
children. To learn more about Stephanie Belseth click here.
Episode
Highlights
Infectious issues related to
neurodevelopmental challenges
- Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, Bartonella, Babesia
- Problems with mycoplasma, strep, viruses
- Many different kinds of conditions underlying parasitic or
fungal overgrowth, bacterial dysbiosis in the gut and the
microbiome
PANDAS and
co-infections
- Often times kids that come in diagnosed with PANDAS, actually
have many other infections
Blood-brain
Barrier
- Kids have leaky blood-brain barriers
- Their blood-brain barriers are more permeable than they should
be, either due to concussions, due to infection, microbiome
problems, the gut-brain connection
- If the gut has increased permeability then the brain will have
increased permeability
Treatments
that can help
- Often times kids aren’t sleeping well, so improving sleep is a
good place to start with treatment
- Melatonin, valerian root, and lemon balm can sometimes
help
- Herbs, vitamins, CBD for lowering brain and gut
inflammation
- Deep breathing skills, hopping skills, QNRT or Brainspotting or
other kinds of techniques, EMDR
- Introducing more healthy fats into the diet and eating mostly
anti-inflammatory foods can help
Environmental
dangers for kids
- EMF (electromagnetic fields) radiation from wifi and wifi
enabled devices
- Too much screen time
- Overexposure to screens and devices can cause hyperactivity,
irritability, and other neurological issues in kids
- There are physiological effects of EMF radiation, especially in
kids that are extra sensitive, therefore, screen time and proximity
to wifi should be limited
Mold
Exposure
- Mold can be a significant stressor on the immune
system
- One out of two homes has some type of mold
- Test your home environment if you feel like you have tried
everything for your child and they are still struggling to improve
their neurological symptoms
Where to learn
more about Stephanie Belseth...
Connect with
Dr. Nicole Beurkens on...
Need help with
improving your child’s behavior
naturally?
Interested in becoming a
patient? Contact us here.