#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards

#255 - Memory, Movement, and Healing

• Jordan Edwards • Season 6 • Episode 255

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What if your body's natural healing abilities could repair injuries without surgery? That's the question Dr. Fawad Mian found himself asking after conventional treatments failed his own injuries.

When Dr. Mian injured his shoulder, doctors immediately suggested surgery, telling him "hopefully we can get a surgery out of you." For his plantar fasciitis, steroid injections provided temporary relief but actually worsened his condition. These experiences led him to discover regenerative medicine techniques that harness the body's inherent healing capacities—treatments that ultimately repaired his own injuries and changed the trajectory of his medical practice.

In our wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Mian reveals surprisingly simple strategies to protect your memory and cognitive function as you age. Sleep quality emerges as a critical factor—with the fascinating observation that during extended blackouts after Superstorm Sandy, chronic insomnia patients were suddenly falling asleep naturally by 8pm once electronic devices were unavailable. Dr. Mian recommends eliminating screens at least one hour (ideally two) before bedtime to reset your natural sleep rhythms.

We explore how exercise directly benefits brain health by increasing blood flow and enhancing gray matter volume. Rather than extreme workouts, consistency proves most important—with Dr. Mian suggesting 4-5 weekly sessions combining strength training and cardio for optimal results. For those struggling to incorporate movement, even simple solutions like an inexpensive walking treadmill placed in front of your television can accumulate beneficial activity.

Dr. Mian explains regenerative treatments like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which concentrates healing factors from your own blood and delivers them precisely where needed. Unlike treatments from umbilical cord or other external sources (which Dr. Mian cautions against), these autologous approaches harness your body's natural repair mechanisms without introducing foreign materials.

Beyond physical health, we discuss Dr. Mian's approach to maintaining positive mental health through gratitude practices and visualization techniques. His perspectives on spirituality, relationships, and community service reveal a holistic approach to wellbeing that complements his regenerative medicine philosophy.

Ready to explore alternatives to surgery and discover how your body might heal itself? Subscribe now and share this episode with someone struggling with chronic pain or injury who might benefit from understanding their options beyond conventional treatments.

To Learn more about Fawad: 

Website: https://www.advocareneurowellnessmd.com/

To Reach Jordan:

Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/



Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.

Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-edwardsconsulting/30min

Speaker 1:

Hey guys, I got a special guest here today. We have Dr Fawad Mian. He's the regenerative medicine doctor. So, Doc, we're so excited to have you on the podcast today For the first question. It's a lot of people I'm talking to, especially the ones that are a little bit older, are very concerned about Alzheimer's, dementia, memory. What are some things we can do in our day-to-day lives, or how can we just be more proactive about our memory?

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, first, thank you for having me on the show. Absolutely, I appreciate that. But I think, when it comes to memory, it's being as proactive as you can earlier on, not waiting till the very end when things are harder to treat. But I think when we're younger, a lot of things that tend to treat, but I think when we're younger, a lot of things that tend to get overlooked are you know, how are we sleeping at night? Are we getting enough rest? Now, that's important for cognition and memory too. That's really important. And unfortunately, a lot of times we tend to be on our computers or phones and that kind of causes a disrupted sleep. So getting away from the electronics is really important. Earlier on, the thing that's always talked about in health care is exercise yeah it's really important because actually, when you exercise, what happens?

Speaker 2:

there's increased blood flow to the brain and so increases volume of the gray matter, and so you're able to have more volume there and you'll have better memory retention. Ultimately, oh, wow so that's actually really important. So it's not just okay, I'm gonna need to lose some weight, I need to lose the spare tire. A few pounds. Exercise is really that important. It's also important for your brain, amongst many other things too, as well absolutely so.

Speaker 1:

When you talk about sleep and you're like no phones, lower electronics, is that like an hour before, 30 minutes before? I just want to ask that because for the audience, it gives them super actionable steps of hey, we can do this, this and this, and like we can take it away from this yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I would say at least bare minimum, like an hour beforehand okay um, ideally I would say more on the two hour mark, but at least uh, that really gives you a chance to unwind, because what happens, especially with your phone?

Speaker 2:

you're constantly scrolling on social media, your email, you're thinking about tomorrow, rather than just kind of like letting things be and relaxing and getting to sleep ultimately. So that's probably a very quick thing people can do. I'll just give you an example of we're in the Northeast. You know there was Superstorm Sandy that occurred back about 13 years ago and you know some patients we did see had insomnia and they said there was absolutely no way that they could fall asleep. Doesn't matter what they did, what they took. But guess what happened when the power was out for about a good week or so, by 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, these people were fast asleep.

Speaker 1:

It reset their whole circadian rhythm.

Speaker 2:

Their whole circadian rhythm, and so that's how disruptive these devices are to us.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my God, that's incredible and we just no one takes it seriously. It's topical, yeah, no, it's kind of you. You know we're used to it. I mean, I'm a bit older. I can remember a time when we didn't have any of these things and you know if it was tv the thing that kept people up. But now it's just more. You have it like right in the in your hand. So that makes just a huge difference, just getting away from that at least for an hour before bedtime and what do you think about some of those?

Speaker 1:

the tracking devices that kind of tell you sleep scores Is that the Whoop Fitbit? Any of those Are those good? Bad.

Speaker 2:

I think it's a good step in the right direction. I mean, there's the Oura Ring and all those things that are out there too as well. I feel like the jury's still out on it a little bit. It doesn't mean that you couldn't, but I think what also happens too well, you know there would be some level of inaccuracy to these devices, but some people might be so um focused on that. It becomes anxiety provoking to them. So you know they're like, oh my god. Well, what's my data going to show tomorrow?

Speaker 1:

kind of thing I've had this hat, so I've been wearing the Fitbit for probably five years and I'm a big fan of it. I like the sleeping, I like the scores. But the big thing that I've talked to people about, they're like if you get a very low score on some area that should be higher, you'll feel like you're going to have a bad day, and that's a challenge that a lot of people are constantly juggling with, where they're like I'm going in the right direction, going the wrong direction, and become very, very challenging. So it's really what's best for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I'm going to say I'm not necessarily opposed to it, but you know, sometimes I would say, don't hyper focus on, on what's there all the time, because some of it also could be inaccurate and then honestly it really does, you know, kind of adversely affect your day and your mentality for the day or even for the week.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and how much sleep should people be getting on a normal basis?

Speaker 2:

You know, for most people between six to eight hours a night. You know there are some people that genetically are called short, short sleepers. Those are the people that I kind of of envy, but they sleep maybe like four or five hours in their bright-eyed, bushy tail early in the morning and they're up and early and they got energy yeah that's, you know, the exception rather than than the rule.

Speaker 2:

But you know, ideally most people six, eight hours. What happens for a lot of people and this is also something that affects memory is that, uh, when people um are constantly, um restricting their sleep throughout the week, they're just tired and their concentration becomes worse, their memory becomes worse, and then they kind of have to do the sleep rebound thing at the end of the week on the weekend to try to get back to where they were, and then the cycle starts again.

Speaker 1:

So we kind of have to be more consistent about our wake-up time and our sleep times yeah, the biggest thing for me, that kind of broke through, was me realizing that staying up till 11 pm for staying up to 9 pm had the same net result. I'm like you're not getting more done. Like if I trade in those two hours at nighttime for two hours in the morning, I'll just have a better experience. That's what I started doing. And people say like go with the, follow the sun. When the sun goes down, you go to sleep. When the sun rises you wake up.

Speaker 2:

Like that is very true, it becomes a much better experience yeah, I mean, I can definitely attest to that because we have, uh, we have chickens in our backyard, so that's awesome yeah, and so you know. I mean you look at if you go out at night. The chickens are in the coop, they're not outside yeah we're like done for the day, but when, as soon as the sun cracks in the morning, then they're out yeah, and it makes a big difference.

Speaker 1:

So for you, regenerative, what does that even mean and how did you get involved with that?

Speaker 2:

yeah. So I'll tell you a little bit first of how I got involved with this. A lot of it kind of came from my own injuries, oh really. So when I started practice out of my own a long time ago, I would notice a lot of people with their own injuries and presumed neurological issues and the orthopedic docs and pain docs were saying, hey, this is neurological, when in reality these people had multiple rotator cuff issues, various knee issues, various neck issues that really needed to be addressed and they just weren't looked at very carefully. I was trying to find a solution for that.

Speaker 2:

At the same time, one of the first injuries that I had was I was lifting weights and I was doing some shoulder shrugs with some heavy weight and I let the weight slip a little bit and I injured my AC joint, which is that smaller joint in the front of your shoulder over here. So I was in so much pain where I couldn't, you know, put my arm above my head. I couldn't sleep on it, couldn't really exercise and I love exercising I felt miserable and it really hurt, and so I did what anybody else would do is I went to the orthopedic doctor. The orthopedic doctor. One of the first things that he says well, hopefully we can get a surgery out of you after we get the imaging. Like that's not the first thing that I want to hear when I go see the surgeon, but that's kind of what he's thinking. Ultimately. I didn't have any tears of my internal tissue and cartilage and all that, but I did have a lot of arthritis here. So I got a couple of steroid injections in here, gave me maybe temporary relief but actually made my joint look worse. I'd probably worried away some of the ligament when I looked on the ultrasound later on and I still couldn't sleep very well, I still couldn't lift weights and like at that point he's like you know what, maybe we just got to chop off part of the bone and that'll like help alleviate that. I'm like you know, I want to come into this. I'm like I, you know, I want to come into this. You know I came into this world with all of these issues and bones. I want to leave with the same thing. And this guy's talking about chopping out you know part of my bone and it kind of sounds kind of barbaric.

Speaker 2:

At the same time I started having foot and ankle issues. I started developing plantar fasciitis. One day I started walking, my foot started hurting. You know, I had lived in like New York City for training for a couple of years, so I walked a ton in dress shoes like that and for whatever reason. When I moved to New Jersey, then just one day I started walking and just my foot started hurting. Oh wow.

Speaker 2:

And then I did what anybody else would do I went to the foot doctor. Foot doctor, let's take some x-rays, let's get you some orthotics, which actually hurt more than the actual pain I was having. Yeah, I went through a couple of treatments and then he gave me some steroid injections for my foot as well. I was like great, steroids are fantastic, you know, they make everything better. So I got a few of those and I'm like, okay, I actually feel a bit better now. It still hurts, but I feel better. You know what? I'm going to go running on the treadmill. That was treadmill. That was a really bad mistake, because now, at that point, after I was done on the treadmill, my foot and ankle hurt like crazy and I had injured my achilles tendon. Now at this point, oh my god. So at this point I'm like, okay, I can barely. You know, it's hard for me to walk. My shoulder hurts because of the biomechanical disruption of everything. The surgery that I did have on my left knee when I tore my ACL started acting up. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So now this is the third thing, that's the fourth thing, I should say that's actually happening to me. Later on I found out that the ACL repair that they did in my knee didn't really take very well, because there's no ACL. Oh wow, just holding my knee together where it's like a pseudo ACL almost. Oh, wow.

Speaker 2:

And so at that point I was like, okay, you know, uh, barely by barely looking at me, he kind of just tugged on my knee, like, let me put a scope in there, we'll take a look and maybe clean some stuff out, because that's, that's kind of what they do. Uh, I started looking into different alternative therapies and, uh, there really weren't a whole lot of resources back then, like 2011, 2012, as they are now. Um, and so, you know, I stumbled across something called prolotherapy, and platelet-rich plasma were the initial things. So I started learning some of that and I went to some conferences. I got my Achilles injected, which actually helped to a certain extent.

Speaker 2:

I got PRP for my plantar fasciitis. It took two rounds to help undo what the steroids did and my foot pain got better. I had gone to some other people to get PRP in my Achilles. It was feeling better, but still not quite the same. And so at that point that's actually when I started treating myself oh wow, treating my own Achilles and I had to do multiple rounds of that to get it better. Now I don't wear any Frankenstein shoes. I can walk normally. I can walk on a treadmill.

Speaker 2:

No problem with that. In terms of the shoulder that I had, I did some PRP and prolotherapy in that joint and I did a couple of rounds of that to also help undo the steroids. And now I have no problems doing this or sleeping on my shoulder or lifting weights. I didn't need to get anything chopped out at all. You know that was being suggested for me too as well, and you know now the ligaments look better when you look on the ultrasound. The joint is still a bit gnarled up from the steroids, but at least the ligaments that are holding things together actually are a lot better. Yeah, and then in terms of my knee, I still also had to do some prp and prolotherapy to help undo some of that. I would say I don't have an acl in there, but my knee is completely functional at this point, even though it's not quite where it needed to be ultimately.

Speaker 2:

But you know, I'm able to lift weights, I'm able to run, I feel a lot better, and so, as time went along, I started implementing more and more. I did more and more training and implementing with my patients and was able to see remarkable improvements in people who were told they need to have surgeries or they need to use strong medications narcotics, pain medications to get through their day, and so for me, this was kind of more inspirational because it's something that helped me overcome my problems, helped overcome my patients problems. I've used it even with my own family, to my own wife, to father, father-in-law, even my own mom. Wow, I even did it on my mom.

Speaker 2:

She's skeptical of everything so when you know and I did it on her she was like I don't know what you did, but like, in about like a month, I can. Well, I have been limping for the last two months and now I'm not limping anymore and it feels good what is this?

Speaker 1:

what is ph like? What are these prp like? What are these?

Speaker 2:

yeah, so plate rich plasma basically is just when we take out our own blood. We concentrate the platelets on the growth factors in there and then we use image guidance, typically like ultrasound or fluoroscopy, which is either an ultrasound or an x-ray, to inject them back into the areas of damage. And what they do is they help orchestrate areas of healing. They release growth factors from the cells and the cells will help tell tissues to go, where to go. It'll help recruit other cells that try to help heal the tissues.

Speaker 1:

Oh, so it's already in your body, you're just relocating it.

Speaker 2:

You're relocating things and you're harnessing the power of that Autologous stem cell therapy which can come from the bone marrow or from fat too as well, does the same thing, but more on a robust scale, with everything, and they're really telling where everything needs to go so is that kind of what's going on with, because don't some other countries do like stem cell stuff, or is that? So you know, with stem cells that's a lot to unpack because you know they're different types of stem cell therapies yeah you know the ones that are, you know, approved for use in the US, or autologous bone marrow.

Speaker 2:

We harvest that from your backside and then also fat, which is just like a mini, basically harvesting mini, like a mini liposuction to a certain extent and then PRP obviously we're drawing blood. But there are also other types of stem cells that people think of and those are the ones where you get from, like umbilical cords or you know, tissue, yeah, like that and those are the ones that we steer clear of because, first of all, you know, a lot of the products that come in bottles that people were using at one point didn't have any viable cells. Everything was dead in there. There's no stem cells in there, oh wow.

Speaker 2:

Plus, at the same time, they can also cause a lot of an inflammation in the body sometimes okay and that can cause problems ultimately, for those people who are getting like iv stem cells, like in other countries with those kinds of tissues. Uh, what happens is that some of that can get trapped in the lung and then cause blood clots and inflammation in the body, uh, and so, yeah, so those ones people have to be leery of. There are some trials that are being done with, um, things like bone marrow, bone marrow and fat for ib stem cells, but that's still like in preliminary certainly yeah.

Speaker 1:

No, it's really interesting because the big thing I learned is that whatever doctor you go to, they're going to recommend what they do, even if you don't need it. Like surgery, yes, surgery Regenerative, regenerative. But you have to be so aware of this bias as, like an individual, then you start to realize like hey, what do I really want? And everyone's like, literally there was a text today where they're like I got an MRI and now I got to go see the doctor for surgery and it's like no, you can do surgery on that body part. Like it doesn't make sense, yeah, it's just. It makes us realize that there's a lot more out there. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, you go.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot more out there, you know what I mean yeah, yeah, yeah, you go well. I was also going to say is that you know, not everybody has to. Um, you know not everybody has to do. You know regenerative treatments chose well, because sometimes just the most basic stuff can help, depending on the situation. You know, normally we, you know we take a look at a patient, we examine them, we look at images, review everything and then decide is this the right thing to do? But there are plenty of people who come in who have maybe some more minor issues and then ultimately what happens is that you know physical therapy, maybe acupuncture. There are like red light therapy, shockwave treatments or other things that can be done as well, that are non-invasive and that might be good enough for somebody for more minor issues.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and what would like? An? An issue when would someone know? If it's like, hey, maybe I should go to a regenerative? Doctor maybe I should go to the orthopedic like when do people even know this?

Speaker 2:

because I feel like we have a range of I'm in a lot of pain, or I have no pain, or it's tolerable well, yeah, I mean, it depends, right, you know the gender bias is that you know the male basically will let things keep going until things will inevitably just fall apart at some point, until they're kind of at that other extreme, you know, whereas you know females obviously are more in tune to things and better about knowing how their body feels and all that, and they'll seek help, seek help earlier, uh, in general, uh, but you know, when the pain becomes, just, you know it is becoming debilitating and it becomes to the point where it is affecting your daily functioning.

Speaker 2:

So say, for instance, it was your knee and you're going up and down the stairs and you're having a real hard time going up and down the stairs. Say, you're where you live requires that maybe you got to get groceries, go up and downstairs, or maybe where you work, or yeah it's. You know that that's kind of really when you need to seek things out and not wait till it gets to the point where you can't walk whatsoever, yeah, and at that point you know, obviously there you can still. Uh, you know if, if you're kind of not wanting to go towards a surgical route, a regenerative medicine doctor would be a good start for somebody if somebody says, hey, you know what slice me open, let me do surgery.

Speaker 2:

Then there are people who are like that. I've had people like that, you know. Then we, we send them to you know, we send them a surgeon.

Speaker 1:

That's kind of say, hey, you can get your surgical opinion and then see if that's the best thing for you ultimately absolutely, absolutely so one of the big things I do is I have edwards consulting, which is my company, and we have five pillars, which are mental health, physical health, community service, philanthropy, spirituality and relationships and something I've been doing recently on the podcast is asking guests what is their mental health like, what is their physical health like, and the reason for that is because then the audience receives it well and this could just be today.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't have to be like every single day, but you basically give a number one to ten and then a reason why, and if it's a little bit better, maybe you give a few examples and we'll figure it out. But your mental health, what's your mental health like today?

Speaker 2:

uh, I would say 9.5 9.5.

Speaker 1:

That might be the highest score ever. Well, why is it 9.5. 9.5. That might be the highest score ever.

Speaker 2:

Why is it 9.5? Because you know, despite no matter, whatever happens, I always try to keep a positive attitude and keep working towards goals, and that's how I view things every day, and so today is no different than any other day, so I'm on the podcast with you, so that was a good thing too as well. So I was excited about today.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And what causes you to like when did you have this switch where you're like I'm going to pick a good. I'm not going to dictate whatever happens to me as a good or bad day, I'm deciding it's a good day Like, when did this flip really happen for you?

Speaker 2:

I think the flip is something that you kind of always continually work on too as well, because it's, you know, to train yourself in that way. But I think really in the last two years I feel like that's been more of the flip and I actively work on it because that's something where you're trying to train your mind to work in the positive rather than the negative, because in the world, with everything, we have tend to have a negative lens for things, especially when something happens, and then if something else happens and it's like everything is going wrong and the world is, and then that's kind of it's so.

Speaker 1:

How do you, how do you practice it, just for the audience, so that they could have yeah so.

Speaker 2:

So one of the things I do you know there are a couple of different things there's, uh, you know, tony robbins priming, which I've done before. It's a little bit on the longer end of things but can be very good, especially if you're consistent. They're going to be smaller versions of that. Sometimes it's just meditation, you know, with certain types of you know meditation, music too as well.

Speaker 2:

And you do that when there was no other disruption. There's nobody talking to you, the lighting is darker. You can let your mind really focus at that point, uh, and then you kind of focus on something positive and then it kind of everything kind of rushes into you at that point. Oh wow, we feel a bit more positive about things that's awesome and the priming real quick, like one minute.

Speaker 1:

I I know what the priming is, but yeah, the audience is curious. I know it's a like an hour long thing. It takes like 10 and 15 minutes, but right, right, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I mean, it's kind of first thing you do is you start off with three things that you're grateful for that day and you focus on those things. You don't just go okay, I'm grateful for this, you think about it, you actually try to visualize it in your head and then, when you're visualizing that event whatever it was or whatever how small it was you're actually going through it, you're appreciating it, uh, and you're going from one to the other. So you're actually spending time on that, uh. And that's like the first part of it. The next part of it is kind of uh some people might find a little hokey to a certain extent, but it kind of uh revolves around, um, it kind of revolves around just positive energy in this case he talks about lights and things like that but just positive energy that's kind of flowing through you, uh and um, focusing on that and then sending it out to people that you love or people that you care for.

Speaker 1:

I've actually gotten a because I've done the priming before. Yeah, I, that part is something that I am so bad at on my day-to-day. But when you do that activity like Doc is completely right. Like you sit there and you're like it's a little weird, but then at the same time, you're like I have unlimited energy, I can help whoever. I'm gonna try to think about everyone in my life in a positive light and give them what they need, and then you start seeing these positive things throughout your day.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and so that's. That's part of it. And then the last part of it that he kind of talks about is think of three outcomes that you want to see within the next, say, six to 12 months, and imagine that they are accomplished, that they're done. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Imagine how that feels. Imagine having gone through that. What do your friends say? How does your family feel? How do you feel feel? What are you doing next? And so you're focusing on those three things you know and you're stacking all that together. Ultimately really just kind of really pushes you up, and then, at the very end, he talks about other things that you're grateful for to kind of bring into yourself, and then it kind of just gives you a ton of energy, uh, and a positive focus ultimately, and a positive lens for everything that's in front of you absolutely no.

Speaker 1:

I highly recommend it. The reason I wanted him to explain that is just because I've done it and it's super helpful and it really does get you in the right headspace, especially when you feel like you're going a mile a minute and you have to do everything, and this is something where it takes 10 minutes. You sit down, you breathe and and you're like this is clarity. Yeah, so I think I appreciate the rep. Physical health what's your physical health on a one to 10?

Speaker 2:

Again, if there's any tips or tricks, yeah, I mean right now it's an eight because my kids kept me up so I feel a little tired. But on my physical health, you know the thing that I try to focus on is, uh, you know, what I harped on before is exercise. And you know it's not so much that you're going to be, um, arnold Schwarzenegger lifting hundreds of pounds kind of thing, or you're running a marathon. You know fibers it's, you know it's kind of working your way up, it's being consistent. Consistency goes a long way in many things in our lives goes a long way in many things in our lives. Exercise is no different, because the exercise will help with our physical, with our mental health, our brain health, ultimately. So I try to make it a point where I'm consistent about my exercise so what's consistent?

Speaker 2:

look like to you, yeah consistent for me, kind of ranges between four to five times a week uh of exercise, and that'll consist of at least uh weights for four days out of those weeks, plus cardio combined with that, and then a fifth day where I'm doing some miscellaneous cardio or or exercise along with that.

Speaker 1:

And is this like 40 minutes? Is this like an hour, two hours?

Speaker 2:

So for me, I try to keep it like within, you know, within an hour, an hour range. You know I'd rather do that than scroll on my phone or watch tv or anything like that. Ultimately, uh, absolutely yeah I feel definitely better doing it that way and you know I don't always get to like the fifth day all the time, but I definitely try to work towards that, strive towards that. But I definitely feel better when I have at least five days of exercise absolutely.

Speaker 1:

One of the tips I'll leave everyone with is I recently got this. It's basically a walking treadmill. It was like 100 bucks on Amazon and, like you were saying, whether you're scrolling, watching TV, like you can literally just put it down in your house and you just walk, and you're walking while you're watching the television. It's like the same thing, but you're getting steps in, which is super helpful, because I know it can be challenging when you're like I don't want to walk outside, it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too this, it's too that. This was a super easy alternative. The next one community service philanthropy. Some people are super active. Some people are not active at all. Do you ever think about this? Or how do you think about this?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, it's something we always try to work towards, working with uh communities and um hospitals and things like that. So I can just give you an example on the regenerative medicine side. So you know, an act of community service, which also was some level of training for us. But you know, we did, uh a medical mission to honduras, uh, roughly about like 11 years ago I guess 11 years ago, maybe, just forgetting the year yeah, like 11 years ago, I guess 11 years ago, maybe, just forgetting the year, yeah, roughly 11 years ago. And that was amazing because you had people who were very debilitated and they would wait hours to get treated over there and they were extremely grateful that you even saw them and you did these treatments on them. And that's how much you know. The group that was doing it had been doing it since, I think, the 60s and the 70s.

Speaker 1:

It's been a long-standing thing that's incredible and what people don't realize is like you can do something like that, something extreme like that, or you could do something like super small down the street where, like this person might need, like one I've done before is like you go to the food store, you buy some bananas, you buy some waters, you give it to the homeless people yeah like I appreciate that.

Speaker 1:

Or you get them a. If it's cold, especially in jersey, you can get cold. Sometimes you get them a big jacket like it's like 10 bucks and people go it's not, I need more money, I want to do more, and it's just like you're just telling yourself a story. That's just not true. Yeah, a lot of different things. So I appreciate you sharing that.

Speaker 2:

I think spirituality some people are in, some people are out yeah, so for me, you know, that's really important, you know just doing daily prayers okay and then meditation with that too as well. So you kind of combine both yeah, so I feel more grounded that way. Uh, it also helps more with the positive outlook and actually just quite frankly, just lightens the heart you know, for whatever goes on. Yeah, you feel lighter after you do it, that's awesome.

Speaker 1:

And what do you? Is there like what prior? Is there like a book? Is there a thing just for anyone or is it just whatever people you know? I, I would just say you know, because obviously everybody has different faiths. And Is there a thing just for anyone or is it just whatever people?

Speaker 2:

You know. I would just say you know, because obviously everybody has different faiths and some people are not even faith based. I think it's, you know, it'd be something that resonates with you, whatever prayer that is, you know. So people can always, you know, look at a book of prayers, no matter what religion they are, and they can pick a couple of them and focus on them, read them, understand them and then maybe doing some meditation with some beads, really at that point too as well, and they can pick the prayers they want. So it's really up to the individual ultimately. But you know, it should always be, like, you know, in their corner and their choice in terms of you know how they do it. That's awesome yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then the last one's relationships what do you think about relationships and yeah, this could be personal business life yeah, I mean relationships, you know.

Speaker 2:

I think the thing that should be said is that any relationship, uh, I think always requires um some level of effort to maintain right yeah because you can't just expect everything and not give anything back to people.

Speaker 2:

But when there's a flow between people or whatnot no matter whether it's business or personal or whatnot that becomes a lot easier to maintain. But there's some cases where one person is having their issues, or one business having their issues, and the other one's kind of helping them or they're being their better client or whatnot and sticking with them. So that's kind of when things require a little bit more effort. So I think there's always like a little bit of a give and take with that. But you know, just keeping a positive mindset and you know, making sure the relationship also is the right thing for you, no matter whether it's business or personal is also really important. Because sometimes those relationships no matter you know, may eventually might may not be something that ultimately does you very good in the long run. Uh, whether it's business or personal.

Speaker 1:

You're bringing up a really good point about, like what serves you and when you start to take real inventory of like who you are, what you want to be, maybe a 20-year relationship might not serve you. That does you. You should not be friends with someone, do business with someone, just because you're like we've known each other this long. Because the knowing of time is. I find it perplexing sometimes because you literally meet someone and have a five-day immersion with them, which is kind of a weird thing.

Speaker 1:

But in the personal development world stuff happens like that and you could get to know them better than someone, because you might have a 20-year relationship with someone but they might be from high school and you might see them one time a year or once every other year. If you hang out with that person five days in a row, you'll get to know them better than I. Mean, I don't know. What do you think about that? Do you think you can meet a new person and you can know them? They can know you better. You can be more comfortable with them than someone that's known you longer.

Speaker 2:

I think that's always. I mean, I think that's always possible. It may not always be the case, but it's certainly possible. There's some people that you know you may resonate better with ultimately. And then the other thing with that too as well, is that sometimes, when you don't know that person and it's just kind of off on the periphery and he or she has no interconnection with anybody else, sometimes, quite frankly, it's just easier to spill the beans a lot more and it's easier for that person as opposed to well, if I say this to this person, that's gonna get to this person.

Speaker 2:

they'll come back around and they'll say this about me, kind of thing, and I've seen that happen, too, as well.

Speaker 1:

That's very. That's why I wanted to ask because that's a very good observation where it's just, if someone doesn't know, you not attached less judgment, like, just straight up, less judgment, and that's a cool thing. So for you, what have you seen with the regenerative medicine world? I know you started in 2011, 2012. It's been a good 13 years. I know about regenerative medicine. I hear about it all the time. It's becoming way more in the mainstream. Where do you think it like? What's the progress you've seen? And then, where do you see this going?

Speaker 2:

well, I think, uh, well, I think it's progressed a lot because now there's been a lot more research and trials on it, so there's a lot more data than there ever was years ago. So that's positive and everybody's working towards that ultimately. So I think that's that's a positive thing. I think the other thing that's, um, the field is moving toward is more concentration of what's being used. So kind of like how you say you know if you have a certain condition, a certain dosage of medication may need to be given, also trying to see as well, for different conditions like osteoarthritis of the knee or rotator cuff tears, what would be the optimal dosage of prp or the stem cells that are being used. So that's being studied and researched more now are you saying per person?

Speaker 1:

or you said like, because we're obviously two different people, so you're saying like I would get an individualized amount that would be towards me, or you're saying more of like a generic hey, you're a 50 year old man it would be.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it would be stratified more based on like age and condition. So say for the depending on age condition loss of cartilage okay for now at least you know. There's been some research that shows like a certain platelet dose count of like 10 billion is more optimal for a knee osteoarthritis than ones that are lower. Those people tend to do worse, so I think that's going to be stratified more and more as the years go on absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And then would you say america is doing well in this. Are there other countries that are kind of ahead of this, or is it just kind of like everything, everyone's kind of moving along? Because, just because I hear about this more in foreign countries from time to time?

Speaker 2:

well, the thing with this you got to realize is that, um, the way things are done medically, like in our country, is that it's very slow. Okay. For instance, let's take a medication for anything that goes out on the market. I'm not talking about COVID drugs or anything like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course In general, most medications that go on the market will be anywhere between five to ten years at least before they're there, before they're put on the market.

Speaker 2:

ultimately, because it's a lot of research, some of that also can be affected by pharmaceutical companies and how they're massaging the research and all that or whatnot, but it takes a long time for something to happen, whereas in a lot of other countries, the governments, uh, are still keeping a keen eye on everything, but they're more innovative and they're not as restrictive in terms of innovation yeah that's probably why you're hearing about it more so in the other countries than you do over here absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

So what do you see for the future of regenerative? Do you see people this being like a primary doctor, like where people start utilizing it Like what? What are you seeing in that direction?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think it still has to be somebody that's specially trained for it, because, um, and even for me, I always continually learn or whatnot. But you know there's a lot that needs to go into like figuring out what you need to treat, uh, what you're looking at, and everything like that. So you need specialized training for it. Ultimately, you know, I kind of went the backdoor way of doing it there. Now, there, you know there's fellowships and things like that, that some people are getting trained in their larger organizations and you know. So all of that is really important. But I think, you know, in years to come, I think it'll become more ubiquitous, where it becomes easier to find somebody and get treatments versus you know the way it is now where you know it's definitely harder or may not be quite as accessible, particularly in certain states.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, absolutely. I know we're coming to the end, but you just brought it up. You went a different path. There's so and the reason I'm saying this is not for it's for your path and your learning, but it's really for everyone else. It's like oh my God, do I need to pivot? Am I doing the right thing? But you went through medical school. You went to do the. That's many, many years. Most people would not go. Yeah, I'm gonna go try this other thing. It's in my field, but it was probably risky at the time. You're like what am I doing? And you probably got judgment from people around you. You probably didn't get accepted, like it can be very challenging. So what would you recommend to the people that are listening, that are like there's something calling me? It's not the conventional path, it's slightly different, but I do want to make my mark.

Speaker 2:

You mean in terms of future doctors or patients.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't have to be doctors, it doesn't have to be patients. It could be someone in a different field trying something new. It could be anybody just who's in that moment of like, have gone really far down this path. I don't know if this is what I want to do.

Speaker 2:

I think I get more purpose with this because you're really aligned with your purpose and your work, which is very rare to see yeah, I mean, I think it's really listening to that voice because it's, you know, it was an easy path for me, you know, and even then you know I'm the neurologist doing this and there aren't very many neurologists who actually do this. It's kind of rare, yeah, to even see us doing these kinds of things. So, uh, I definitely listening to that voice and aligning to your heart, I think is really important, no matter what it is in. You know what field you're in or what you're doing. Even if it's non-medical, it's always important.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely Follow your heart. I love that. And where can people learn more about you? Where can they learn more about all the work that you are up to?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I mean, we have a website at prolohealingcom. You know we're actually kind of rebranding to Ascend Regenerative Okay, cool, that's actually our Instagram handle is Ascend Regenerative too as well. So you know they can always find more information on those two platforms.

Speaker 1:

Okay, awesome, really appreciate the time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I appreciate being on the show. I enjoyed being here today.

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Jordan Edwards

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