Mark Hyman, MD · 2026-01-21 · Mark Hyman (host), Robert Hedaya
Fix the Brain, Change the Mind: Root-Cause Psychiatry w/ Dr. Robert Hedaya
29 research-tied claims examined: 2 contradicted 2 overstated 2 context 13 supported 10 unverified
10 No source found (not proven false)
B12 deficiency can cause panic attacks, and intramuscular B12 injection can rapidly resolve panic symptoms.
"A woman comes to me and she's having panic attacks. She has B12 deficiency. I give her injection. With the first injection, her panic is gone." (said at 0:00:00)
No published record matching the reported clinical case of panic attacks resolving immediately after a single vitamin B12 injection was located; this does not prove the claim false. While vitamin B12 deficiency is recognized to cause various neuropsychiatric manifestations, systematic reviews note that robust clinical trial evidence is lacking for B12 supplementation in major psychiatric disorders outside of correcting frank deficiency, and controlled studies have not established a specific association between cobalamin levels and isolated panic attacks.
Approximately one in five women have Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
"Now, what is it? One in five women have Hashimoto's thyroiditis." (said at 0:17:25)
No published record matching the claim that approximately one in five women have Hashimoto's thyroiditis was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Quantitative EEG measures electrical activity at 19 scalp points and standardizes findings against age- and sex-matched normative controls.
"Essentially, the quantitative EEG is we put a cap on a patient's head. We measure the electrical output at 19 points and it goes into the computer. It's really AI-driven. This is standardized against age- and sex-matched controls through the NIH database." (said at 0:18:54)
No published record matching the claim that quantitative EEG measures electrical activity at 19 scalp points standardized against an NIH age- and sex-matched normative database was located; this does not prove the claim false.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) launched a $100 million initiative across approximately 30 sites to study functional medicine and lifestyle medicine in chronic disease prevention and treatment.
"she called me to tell me they were launching a $100 million effort with 30 different sites, $3 million or so each, to study functional medicine and lifestyle medicine in the treatment and prevention of chronic disease." (said at 0:02:51)
No published record matching a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) $100 million initiative across approximately 30 sites dedicated specifically to evaluating functional medicine and lifestyle medicine in chronic disease prevention and treatment was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases oxygen delivery, nerve growth factors, stem cell mobilization, and capillary perfusion.
"And in in hyperbaric oxygen you're you're doing so many things: you're increasing delivery of nutrients, right? You're increasing delivery of oxygen. You're actually increasing nerve growth factors, your stem cell growth, right? Capillary perfusion, right?" (said at 0:46:12)
No published record matching the claim that hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases oxygen delivery, nerve growth factors, stem cell mobilization, and capillary perfusion was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Chronic peripheral infections can cause alterations in brain chemistry and increase glutamate excitotoxicity.
"infection in her mouth and as as you know the infection causes changes in the brain chemistry. Increases glutamate excitotoxicity." (said at 0:53:35)
No published record matching the claim that infection in the mouth causes changes in brain chemistry and increases glutamate excitotoxicity was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Genome-wide association studies show immune system and hormone signaling genes are prominent genetic risk drivers for psychiatric disorders.
"If you look at the the genetic studies on psychiatric illness, they're called genome-wide association studies, right? Uh where they look at millions of people and look what genes show up in psychiatric disorders. You know this, it's like the immune system and it's the hormones. Those are the big drivers" (said at 0:54:05)
No published record matching the claim that genome-wide association studies identify immune system and hormone signaling genes as the primary genetic drivers across psychiatric disorders was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Following Dr. Charles McBurney examining President William McKinley's stomach gunshot wound with unwashed fingers, McKinley developed a fatal infection rather than dying directly from the bullet wound.
"McKinley was shot in the stomach. And you remember McBurney, the McBurney's point from medical school with the appendicitis... was named after the surgeon McBurney who got called to see McKinley after he got shot and he stuck his finger in the wound... And he got infection and he died from the infection. It wasn't from the gunshot, you know." (said at 0:45:00)
No published record matching the claim that Dr. Charles McBurney probed President William McKinley's stomach gunshot wound with unwashed fingers causing a fatal infection was located; this does not prove the claim false.
A clinical cohort of patients with treatment-resistant depression treated with Dr. Hedaya's functional medicine protocol achieved a 100% improvement/recovery rate by 10 months.
"Everyone, the mean depression score at start, it was in the severe range, the low severe range, they all were better by 10 months... Just doing the functional medicine by four months when they're implementing the program—three months, four months—they start to get better and they steadily improve" (said at 0:58:44)
No published record matching the claim of a 100% improvement or recovery rate in a clinical cohort of patients with treatment-resistant depression treated with Dr. Hedaya's functional medicine protocol was located; this does not prove the claim false.
In the 1950s in Canada, psychiatrist Abram Hoffer experimented with treating schizophrenia using high doses of specific vitamins.
"he was, you know, a psychiatrist in Canada back in the '50s and was a kind of a colleague of Linus Pauling and was sort of experimenting with schizophrenia by giving them high doses of certain vitamins and believed that there were certain pathways that were stuck that he could unlock." (said at 1:03:07)
No published record matching the claim that Abram Hoffer was a psychiatrist in Canada who experimented in the 1950s with high doses of vitamins to treat schizophrenia was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.