Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health

30/09/2026

TINGLING IN POTS DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN NERVE DAMAGE 🧠⚡️

One of the symptoms patients with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) complain of is tingling or “pins and needles” — particularly in the hands, face or around the mouth.

This can understandably make people worry about multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy or demyelination.

But there is another important mechanism to consider:

🫁 HYPERVENTILATION → ↓ CO₂ → TINGLING

During a POTS episode, some patients develop increased respiratory drive or hyperventilation, particularly when upright, anxious or experiencing significant autonomic activation.

When you breathe out CO₂ faster than your body produces it, arterial CO₂ (PaCO₂) falls, producing respiratory alkalosis.

This change in CO₂ and blood pH can alter neuronal excitability and cerebral/peripheral blood flow and can produce very real neurological sensations, including:

• Tingling in the hands
• Perioral tingling
• Numbness or “electric” sensations
• Light-headedness
• Dizziness
• Visual symptoms
• Tremulousness
• Muscle tightness or cramping

So a patient can experience very genuine neurological symptoms without having structural demyelination of the peripheral nerves.

🔬 THIS IS WHY NERVE CONDUCTION STUDIES MATTER

I perform many NCV/NCS studies in patients with POTS and dysautonomia, and it is not uncommon for the nerve conduction studies to be normal despite significant reports of tingling, burning or altered sensation.

That distinction is important.

A normal NCV study does not mean your symptoms aren't real.

Instead, it can help demonstrate that the symptoms are not necessarily being caused by a large-fibre demyelinating or axonal peripheral neuropathy.

The clinical picture needs to be interpreted alongside:

🫀 Autonomic function
🫁 Respiratory pattern and CO₂ physiology
🧠 Central nervous system function
🩸 Blood pressure and cerebral perfusion
⚡️ Peripheral nerve conduction
🧬 Small-fibre function where clinically indicated

12/08/2026

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALTH|

Is cholesterol the only stroke risk factor for Stroke? Absolutely not.

I recently assessed a patient with very poor autonomic adaptability, showing markedly reduced sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity. Interestingly, this occurred despite having extremely low cholesterol while taking a statin medication.

This is an important reminder that LDL cholesterol is only one piece of the cardiovascular puzzle.

Your autonomic nervous system continuously regulates:
• Blood pressure stability
• Heart rate variability (HRV)
• Cerebral blood flow
• Vascular tone
• Cardiac electrical stability
• The body's ability to respond to physical and emotional stress

When autonomic function is significantly impaired, the cardiovascular system loses much of its ability to adapt to changing demands.

Research has consistently shown that reduced heart rate variability and impaired autonomic function are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, including both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. While lowering LDL cholesterol can reduce cardiovascular risk in many people, it does not directly restore autonomic nervous system function.

Even if cholesterol is "perfect," an individual may still have:
✅ Poor autonomic regulation
✅ Reduced baroreflex sensitivity
✅ Impaired vascular responsiveness
✅ Abnormal cerebral perfusion regulation

These physiological factors deserve attention because they may contribute to overall vascular risk alongside traditional markers such as LDL, blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.

We evaluate not only lipid biomarkers and vascular risk factors, but also how well the autonomic nervous system is controlling the heart and blood vessels in real time. Understanding both systems provides a more complete picture of neurological and cardiovascular health.

Health is more than a cholesterol number, it's also about how well your nervous system adapts every second of every day.

If you are experiencing persistent unexplained symptoms involving dizziness, fatigue, hypermobility, autonomic dysfunction or chronic multisystem health concerns, Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health may be able to help provide a more integrated clinical perspective.

Book your complimentary 10-minute consultation with Dr. Yazbek HERE - https://the-chiro-hub.cliniko.com/bookings

07/02/2026

Sydney Neuro & Integrative health is proud to provide a comprehensive, systems-based evaluation of POTS and autonomic disorders, looking beyond a single linear model of treatment.

Your autonomic nervous system controls the functions you don’t have to think about — heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, digestion, temperature regulation and more. When this system isn’t functioning properly, people can experience symptoms such as dizziness, rapid heart rate, fatigue, brain fog, exercise intolerance, anxiety-like sensations, functional gastrointestinal symptoms, and temperature sensitivity.

If you or someone you know has been struggling with POTS and autonomic dysregulation, a comprehensive functional neurological and autonomic evaluation may provide a gateway into understanding the complexity of such as "invisible illness" we call POTS.

For more information about how we can assist you, please book here - https://the-chiro-hub.cliniko.com/bookings

26/10/2025

YOUR SPINE, YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM - WHY IT MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK 🧠

Your spine isn't just a stack of bones, it’s the protective highway for your central nervous system (CNS). Inside it runs the spinal cord, carrying every message between your brain and body. When the spine is injured, compressed, or inflamed, it doesn’t just cause back pain — it can alter neural communication, reflexes, movement, and even organ function

When your spine is stressed, injured, or compressed, it’s not just “back pain” — it can disrupt movement, reflexes, sensation, and even organ function.

Research shows that spinal conditions like cervical spondylotic myelopathy and spinal cord injury cause real neuroinflammation, demyelination, and even brain changes (Khan et al., 2023; Patel et al., 2025).

Why this matters for you? 🤔

1. Preventive mindset: Taking care of your spine means preserving the pathways of your nervous system — your sensory awareness, motor control, coordination, organ regulation.

2. Smart management: If you have spinal degeneration, disc problems, or pain — viewing it through a nervous system lens helps you understand why one disc bulge may cause big symptoms, while another might not.

3. Rehabilitation & recovery: Understanding the neurophysiological relationship opens doors to targeted therapies — not just “fixing the disc” but modulating neural circuits, improving reflexes, reducing maladaptive plasticity, restoring function.

4. Pain & quality of life: Persistent spinal problems often lead to central sensitization (the nervous system becomes more sensitive), low level axonal/ demyelinative loss and even brain changes — knowing this means you’re not “just hurting because of a bad back”, but because your nervous system is adapting (or maladapting) to what’s happening in your spine.

29/09/2025

Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health is proud to launch their new website - https://sydneyneurohealth.com.au/

Our mission is to get you achieving the best health possible. We don't ignore anything in your health and medical history that may have possibly contributed to the current state of health you are in.

Most importantly, we want to know what has and hasn't worked for you in the past. Knowing this enables us to zoom in on the problem and allow us to become more time efficient, cost effective and create a high probability of achieving success with you.

From the time you book in your first initial consultation at Sydney Neuro & Integrative health, you will receive a detailed analysis of your previous and current health/medical investigations alongside an intended and well thought out clinical examination and treatment plan.

Please feel free to navigate the website and make yourself familiar with all the wonderful things we can offer at Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health.

You can book your free 10-min consultation here - https://the-chiro-hub.cliniko.com/bookings

Save time and book your appointments online with The Chiro Hub 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

25/09/2025

Did you know that our head clinician and owner at Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health (Dr. Daniel Yazbek) can perform extensive neurological evaluations as well as advanced studies to address disease and pathology to the nerves exiting and traversing the spine, arms and legs?

Dr. Yazbek is the only trained chiropractor in Sydney, Australia who is able to perform nerve conduction studies to determine the extent, location and type of nerve injury you or your loved one may have.

When do nerve conduction studies provide clinical value for you as a patient, when consulting a chiropractor with symptoms of neck or back pain?

1. Tingling or numbness in the shoulder, arm, hand, thigh, leg or foot that is not relieved with conventional hands-on chiropractic or physiotherapy methods.

2. Failed lumbar surgery syndrome. This is where the surgical operation performed on your spine (neck or low back) did not resolve your neurological symptoms of tingling, weakness or numbness.

3. Progressive weakness in the hand of foot drop

4. MRI imaging findings that do not correlate to the severity of your symptoms

If you or your loved one can relate to any of the above, then please book in a free 10-minute consultation here - https://the-chiro-hub.cliniko.com/bookings .

We will work with your GP or specialist neurologist so you can feel confident and re-assured that you take the right path towards optimizing your health

25/09/2025

Hi,

I am Dr. Daniel Yazbek, founder of Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health

Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health has developed expertise through the pursuit of many years of academic, professional and clinical experience. SNIH is at the frontiers of combining functional medicine-oriented approaches in tandem with a functional neurological approach to many nervous system and systemic health conditions.

Due to an over-abundance of conventional linear-based approaches to health and a serious need to fill the gap in the healthcare market, SNIH is providing a bi-directional brain-body approach to truly untangle the complex web of your chronic injury or illness.

At Sydney Neuro & Integrative health, we work with a wide range of conditions, from acute to more advanced spinal-related conditions, through to acquired neurological and brain-based diseases.

The key to our patients’ success is our personalized approach to treatment and to treat you as a person with a condition and not the condition itself.

At Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health, we would like to extend a generous 10-minute free consultation with you, so we can determine how we can serve you at best, through all that we provide both within and outside clinical practice.

Please feel free to book your 10-minute free consultation here - https://the-chiro-hub.cliniko.com/bookings

22/08/2025

Is MRI really the gold standard for diagnosing your condition?

In many spine and nerve-related cases, MRI and ultrasound is invaluable for visualizing structure. But it has one major limitation: it shows anatomy - not function.

At Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health, we see patients every week whose MRI scans don’t fully explain their symptoms: Weakness, numbness & tingling.

That’s where Electrodiagnostic testing (NCV/EMG) comes in:

- MRI reveals anatomical changes in bones, discs and soft tissue.
- NCV/EMG measures how well nerves and muscles are actually functioning.

By combining both, we can:
- Pinpoint the exact location & severity of nerve injury
- Determine the functional consequences of Pffirrmann grading on disc protrusions compressing nerve roots
- Differentiate between disc-nerve compression, entrapment neuropathies, polyneuropathies & muscle disease
- Monitor recovery over time
- Provide clearer prognosis & treatment planning

In fact, studies show that adding NCV/EMG to MRI often changes the diagnosis - and better predicts who will benefit from surgery or targeted therapies.

Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health is the only allied health clinic to offer all three forms of examination:
1. Comprehensive neurological & Orthopaedic examination
2️. MRI correlation
3️. NCV/EMG testing

For persistent symptoms that MRI alone does not explain, we can provide a complete diagnostic approach!

15/06/2025

Introducing Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health!

Healthcare reimagined: Science-backed, Patient-centred and Truly Integrated

Our integrative approach brings together the cutting-edge insights of functional neurology and the whole-person perspective of functional medicine to create a truly personalised path to health optimisation.

Whether you’re navigating neuro-musculoskeletal pain, chronic fatigue, brain fog, post-concussive syndrome, gut-immune dysregulation, nutritional imbalances, POTS / dysautonomia, dizziness, balance, and vertigo disorders, neurological diseases or functional neurological disorders, we’re here to untangle the complex web of the many overlapping bodily systems that may be contributing to your symptoms.

Sydney Neuro & Integrative Health combines advanced neurological evaluations with in-depth functional medicine testing, lifestyle medicine and compassionate care to support your body’s innate ability to reach optimal health.