Video podcast
Gesundheit braucht VerstandCauses instead of symptoms
In his video podcast, Dr. Klaus Berndsen first asks, for every health topic, how a complaint developed. Here you will learn what approach lies behind the episodes, which model connects them, how we assess studies and where you can read about the topics in detail.
Does this sound familiar?
Many treatments, but no explanation?
What applies to you?
Tap whatever applies to you.
If you recognise yourself in several points, you are in the right place. The podcast does not provide quick fixes. It shows how to place a complaint in its history and which questions you can ask before choosing the next measure.
What lies behind the mottoThe episodes at a glanceThe key points at a glance
- “Gesundheit braucht Verstand” is the video podcast by Dr. Klaus Berndsen. Each episode first asks how a complaint developed, and only then what can be done.
- We see the common starting point of many topics in the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance. In our view, they usually stand at the beginning of long causal chains.
- We classify other treatments objectively, with their benefits and their follow-on problems, and we read studies with their limitations. On this page you will find the reviewed episodes and the specialist articles that have come out of them.
Video
Why we treat basic functions instead of symptoms
Das Video lädt erst nach dem Klick. Dann werden Daten an YouTube (Google) übertragen.
The approach
Gesundheit braucht Verstand: what the motto means
Since 2021, Dr. Klaus Berndsen has been talking on camera about health topics, from swallowing and sleep to the question of how the body maintains its balance. The title says it all.
Reason here does not mean knowing everything better. It means not looking at a complaint in isolation, but asking where it comes from. When did it begin? What preceded it? What adaptations has the body developed since then?
Anyone who asks these questions often makes different decisions. Not necessarily more treatment, but one that fits how the complaint developed. That is exactly what every episode is about.
A symptom shows the current state of a story.Its earlier chapters are often only partly visible in the current findings. That is how the book “Trust the Triad”, on which the episodes are professionally based, puts it.
This is not directed against medicine. Acute events often have a clearly identifiable cause: an injury damages tissue, a pathogen triggers an infection. With complaints that grow over years, things are different. There it is worth looking at what changed long before the first findings.
Causes instead of symptoms
Where a symptom appears is rarely where it began
The question of the cause runs through all the episodes. Behind it lies a four-stage way of thinking.
Imagine the oil warning light comes on in a car. You can tape over the light, and the warning signal is gone. You can top up the oil, and it is fine for a while. Or you can look for the leak. In humans the search is more difficult, because the cause and the visible consequence are often years apart.
The control pattern deviates
mouth breathing, a low-lying tongue or disturbed head balance. This often begins in childhood.
The body compensates
Other muscles step in. The nervous system stores the workaround as the preferred pattern.
Structures adapt
Palate shape, tooth position and posture follow the forces that act on them every day.
Only now do complaints appear
When and how severely depends on the extent of the disturbance, the duration of the compensation and age.
For many people with jaw, neck or sleep complaints, this chain is, in our view, usually the background. It also explains why a treatment at the end of the chain often works as long as it continues, but the complaint can return afterwards. At the beginning of the chain, nothing has changed. What this looks like with jaw joint complaints is shown in the article Understanding TMD.
The model
Breathing, swallowing and head balance: the common denominator
Whether tinnitus, snoring or neck pain: in many episodes, the question of the cause leads to the same three functions.
Breathing, swallowing and head balance accompany you from birth, day and night. You swallow many hundreds to a thousand times a day, you breathe continuously, and your head is realigned with every movement.
Because these processes are repeated so often, they shape the conditions under which muscles, joints and the nervous system work. The Cranio-Cervical Functional Model describes how they interact in the space between the skull and the cervical spine.
It is important to note what the model does not claim. A conspicuous tongue reference position alone does not explain a distant condition. However, the basic functions change the starting conditions in which other systems do their work. You can find more about the tongue under Tongue resting posture and tongue reference position, and more about the swallowing sequence under Swallowing and swallowing disorders.
Thinking traps
The power of the first diagnosis
Those who treat also need reason. An early assessment can steer later judgements more strongly than all those involved realise.
Psychology calls this the anchoring effect. A first piece of information is given particular weight, and later clues are no longer sufficiently taken into account. A research group from Los Angeles and Harvard investigated whether this also happens in the emergency department, specifically in patients with heart failure who came in with shortness of breath.
of heart failure with shortness of breath in the emergency departments of US veterans’ hospitals from 2011 to 2018 were evaluated1
less often were patients tested for pulmonary embolism when “heart failure” was already stated as the reason for admission. The tests also came on average just over 15 minutes later1
The authors conclude from this that doctors can cling to such initial information. This is not a reproach to individuals, but a human mechanism. In everyday life, you encounter it when an old diagnosis is supposed to explain every new complaint.
It is similar when a finding is declared to be the cause, for example “deviated nasal septum”, “soft palate too slack” or “jaw too small”. In many cases, we consider this to be a false conclusion. Such findings describe what can be seen. In our view, they are usually the consequence of a function that has changed over years. That is why we first ask what was different before the finding.
Putting aids into context
Support or function: two different goals
Splints, insoles or breathing devices come up in many episodes. They are not disparaged there, but put into context.
Mechanical support
- Changes the conditions for as long as it is used
- Protects, relieves or holds a position
- Can be useful and indispensable in acute situations
- The control behind it stays as it is
Your own function
- Addresses the control
- Is learned through frequent repetition
- Takes time, often many months
- Is meant to become available without constant external guidance
The two are not mutually exclusive. A support can provide relief while your own function is being built up. More on this under FaceFormer and other treatments.
Like a crutch after a broken leg
A crutch takes weight off the leg, and in the first weeks it is exactly right. The bone still has to heal itself, and at some point the leg should bear weight again. That is how we see many aids. They provide relief, but they do not restore the function itself.
Every support has its price, because the body adjusts to it. With long-term use, an anti-snoring splint measurably shifts the position of the teeth7. With longer use, decongestant nasal sprays can themselves sustain a blocked nose, because the mucous membrane swells again after each dose89. And after braces, in a long-term observation over twenty years, the lower front teeth became increasingly crowded again; in the end, their position was still clinically acceptable in only about one in ten of the 31 treated patients10.
In our view, such remedies are an answer to the symptom and not to the question of how it developed, and not infrequently they bring their own follow-on problems. The systems researcher Peter Senge calls this pattern shifting the burden4. A quick fix takes the pressure off, and the fundamental solution is lost from view. How we classify splints and CPAP for snoring is described under Snoring and sleep apnoea.
Please do not stop medically prescribed aids such as a splint, CPAP or nasal spray on your own. Discuss any changes with your treating practice. Training the basic functions can be combined with ongoing treatment.
Holistic
Everyone does their part, but who puts the whole in order?
Specialisation is one of the great strengths of medicine. But it has a side effect: the transitions between the specialties often belong to no one.
Anyone with complaints affecting the ear, jaw, neck and sleep quickly ends up in four waiting rooms. Each specialty works carefully within its remit. Whether the findings share a common history is often something nobody asks. As early as 1977, the psychiatrist George Engel called for a model of illness that does not reduce the person to individual biological findings3.
was the drop in mortality after surgery in eight hospitals worldwide after a safety checklist for the surgical team was introduced2
was the drop, in the same study, in the proportion of surgical patients with complications, among 3,733 patients before and 3,955 after2
The surgical technique remained largely the same. What changed was communication and joint checking. This cannot be transferred directly to long-standing functional disorders. But it shows how much difference it makes to bring existing knowledge together. For us, therefore, holistic does not mean adding more treatments, but ordering the findings in time and by function.
Reading studies
Evidence, honestly: what is proven and what is not
Almost every episode is about studies. How we assess them follows a few fixed rules.
- Source before headline: We read the original paper or at least its abstract, not just the press report.
- Who was studied? Mice, twelve volunteers or a hundred thousand patients produce statements of very different reliability.
- What was measured? A laboratory value is not yet a state of wellbeing, and a snapshot is not yet a course.
- Naming limitations: Even for our own method, we say which studies exist and which are missing.
The absence of a study does not mean that the connection does not exist. It means that it has not been tested.This sentence applies in both directions. It protects against hasty dismissal and equally against hasty promises.
Evidence-based medicine has achieved a great deal. In 2014, however, British authors led by Trisha Greenhalgh also described its weaknesses and called for study findings to be combined again with the individual case and the experience of practitioners5. What has been published on training the basic functions can be found, with an assessment, on the page Studies and science.
The consequences
From podcast to specialist article
We have worked many episodes up into detailed articles, with sources, graphics and exercises. We collect them here.
The topics range from the jaw and ear to sleep and fundamental questions such as homeostasis, hormesis or healthy ageing. New episodes appear regularly on Dr. Berndsen’s YouTube channel.
As soon as an episode has been checked and worked out in writing, it goes on this page. Next up is the yo-yo effect, on a study from Zurich according to which fat tissue retains changes from the period of excess weight even after weight loss6.
TMD and jaw joint
Why jaw complaints are often one symptom among several. To the article
Vagus nerve
The rest nerve and its connection to breathing and swallowing. To the article
Ear pressure
How the Eustachian tube is ventilated and what swallowing has to do with it. To the article
Dry mouth
Why the glass of water by the bed does not explain the dry mouth. To the article
Neck and back
Head balance, tongue and the statics of the body. To the article
Retainers
What holds the teeth in position after braces. To the article
For you
Four questions for any health information
You can take the motto with you. These questions help with every finding, every piece of advice and every video, including ours.
Since when?
Ask about the history. What was different before the complaint? What came first?
Why here of all places?
The place where a symptom appears does not have to be the place where it began.
What changes in the long term?
Does a measure only help as long as it continues, or does it change the function itself?
What is the statement based on?
Study, experience or opinion? All three have their value; they should simply be identifiable.
The findings say “deviated nasal septum”. Which question gets you furthest?
Limits
What the podcast does not replace
The episodes explain connections as we see them, and they are based on studies where these exist. They do not replace a personal examination. Sudden severe pain, shortness of breath, paralysis, sudden hearing loss or a high fever require immediate medical attention.
Not against medicine, but one level before it.That is how Dr. Berndsen describes the role of the basic functions in the episode on homeostasis: as a foundation that should be taken into account in every treatment.
From the model of the triad, Dr. Berndsen developed FaceFormer therapy, a training programme that practises breathing, swallowing and head balance in one sequence. You can read how it is structured under What is FaceFormer therapy? and How does FaceFormer therapy work?.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is “Gesundheit braucht Verstand”?
The video podcast by Dr. Klaus Berndsen. Since 2021 he has been explaining health topics in it with a consistent basic approach: first understand how a complaint developed, then decide what can be done. The episodes are published on YouTube; topics that have been worked out in detail can be found as specialist articles on faceformer.de.
Who is Dr. Klaus Berndsen?
Together with Sabine Berndsen, Dr. Klaus Berndsen developed the model of the triadic functional circuit and, from it, FaceFormer therapy at the ISST in Unna, the Institute for Special Systemic Therapy. You can find out more about both of them on the About us page.
What does “causes instead of symptoms” mean?
A symptom shows where it hurts right now, but not necessarily where the development began. That is why we ask about the history and about the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance, which in our view usually stand at the beginning of many causal chains.
Why is there so much talk of breathing, swallowing and head balance?
Because these three basic functions run continuously and shape the conditions under which muscles, joints and the nervous system work. If one of them deviates, the body compensates, and this workaround can become established over years. That is why, for many topics, we start at this point before turning to the individual symptom.
Is the podcast against conventional medicine?
No. Specialised medicine, surgery and medication are indispensable in many situations. The podcast puts treatments into context objectively and asks whether a measure addresses the cause or the consequence. Never stop medically prescribed treatments on your own.
Where can I find the episodes?
On Dr. Berndsen’s YouTube channel. The topics we have checked and worked out in writing are collected on this page in the section “The episodes” and in the topic overview.
How are the studies in the episodes checked?
We read the original paper or its abstract, pay attention to who was studied and what was measured, and name the limitations. We only use figures if we have found them in the source itself.
Can I suggest a topic for a new episode?
Yes. Simply write your suggestion in the comments under a video. At the end of many episodes, Dr. Berndsen explicitly asks which topic you would like to understand next.
Does the podcast replace an examination?
No. It explains connections and helps you ask better questions. It does not replace a personal examination and consultation, and if you have acute or severe complaints, please go directly to a doctor.
More articles from the knowledge section
Where to go next
Sources
- Ly DP, Shekelle PG, Song Z (2023). Evidence for Anchoring Bias During Physician Decision-Making. JAMA Internal Medicine 183(8):818-823. PMID 37358843. Source
- Haynes AB, Weiser TG, Berry WR et al., Gawande AA; Safe Surgery Saves Lives Study Group (2009). A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. New England Journal of Medicine 360(5):491-499. PMID 19144931. Source
- Engel GL (1977). The need for a new medical model: a challenge for biomedicine. Science 196(4286):129-136. PMID 847460. Source
- Senge PM (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency. ISBN 978-0385260947.
- Greenhalgh T, Howick J, Maskrey N; Evidence Based Medicine Renaissance Group (2014). Evidence based medicine: a movement in crisis? BMJ 348:g3725. PMID 24927763. Source
- Hinte LC, Castellano-Castillo D, Ghosh A et al., von Meyenn F (2024). Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss. Nature 636(8042):457-465. PMID 39558077. Source
- Patel S, Rinchuse D, Zullo T, Wadhwa R (2019). Long-term dental and skeletal effects of mandibular advancement devices in adults with obstructive sleep apnoea: A systematic review. International Orthodontics 17(1):3-11. PMID 30770329. Source
- Graf P (2005). Rhinitis medicamentosa: a review of causes and treatment. Treatments in Respiratory Medicine 4(1):21-29. PMID 15725047. Source
- Ramey JT, Bailen E, Lockey RF (2006). Rhinitis medicamentosa. Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology 16(3):148-155. PMID 16784007. Source
- Little RM, Riedel RA, Artun J (1988). An evaluation of changes in mandibular anterior alignment from 10 to 20 years postretention. American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics 93(5):423-428. PMID 3163221. Source
Get started
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The free FaceFormer app guides you through the basic exercises, counts along and reminds you of your sessions. If you wish, a practice from the practitioner directory can support you.
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FaceFormer ZERO Children’s Set
ZERO with hygiene box, plush bag and success book with stamp.
FaceFormer training aims to restore the physiological setting of the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance, with lip closure and the tongue reference position, thereby creating the conditions under which symptoms can improve. It does not replace a medical assessment. You can find practitioners near you in the practitioner directory.
