I have already done a number of posts focusing on natural ways of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s, but this one mentions a few things not featured before, and since this disease affects just about everyone, either directly or indirectly, I want as many people as possible to know there are number of ways the condition can be addressed. My mother passed away last year after enduring 8 years with dementia, and I just spent last week moving my father, who has been declining rather rapidly mentally, to assisted living. If some of the things listed here and in my other posts had been incorporated into their lives earlier, who knows how much difference it could have made.
What’s nice about the approach used here is, as the last statement says “It is noteworthy that the major side effects of this therapeutic system are improved health and an improved body mass index, a stark contrast to the side effects of many drugs,” so it’s really the kind of advice/guidelines everyone could benefit from.
(TRFW News) Alzheimer’s currently affects 5.4 million Americans and 30 million people around the world. In a small study, nine out of ten patients displayed improvements in memory within three to six months of treatment. The tenth patient was reported to be in late stages of the disease. For the nine patients, improvements have been sustained and they have returned to work with increased performance. (1,2)
Nine out of ten patients in small study show memory improvement.
The study provides three symptom case studies to give readers an idea of severity:
“Patient 1 had two years of progressive memory loss. She was considering quitting her job, which involved analyzing data and writing reports, she got disoriented driving, and she mixed up the names of her pets.” (1)
“Patient 2 kept forgetting once-familiar faces at work, forgot his gym locker combination and had to have his assistants constantly remind him of his work schedule.” (1)
“Patient 3’s memory was so bad that she used an iPad to record everything, then forgot her password. Her children noticed she commonly lost her train of thought in mid-sentence, and often asked them if they had carried out the tasks that she mistakenly thought she had asked them to do.” (1)
Diet changes, brain stimulation, exercise, sleep optimization, pharmaceuticals, and vitamins are part of the treatment approach.
Dr. Dale Bredesen, UCLA professor and paper’s author, noticed that comprehensive treatment approaches work for many other illnesses. This was the beginning of developing a 36-point therapeutic program that includes diet and lifestyle changes. (1,3)
Bredesen explains, “The existing Alzheimer’s drugs affect a single target, but Alzheimer’s disease is more complex. Imagine having a roof with 36 holes in it, and your drug patched one hole very well.” He continues, “The drug may have worked, and a single hole may have been fixed, but you still have 35 other leaks, and so the underlying process may not be affected much.” (1,2)
Bredesen’s treatment approach is personalized to each patient. In the case of one patient, Bredesen’s treatment approaches included:
- Eliminating all simple carbohydrates, gluten and processed food from her diet, and eating more vegetables, fruits and non-farmed fish
- Meditating twice a day and beginning yoga to reduce stress
- Sleeping seven to eight hours per night, up from four to five
- Taking melatonin, methylcobalamin, vitamin D3, fish oil and coenzyme Q10 each day
- Optimizing oral hygiene by using floss and an electric toothbrush
- Reinstating hormone replacement therapy, which had previously been discontinued
- Fasting for a minimum of 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, and for a minimum of three hours between dinner and bedtime
- Exercising for a minimum of 30 minutes, four to six days per week (1)
He reports the downside of this treatment is that it is heavily reliant on the patient and caregiver. In the study, none of the patients were able to stick to the prescribed treatment 100%. (1)
“It is noteworthy that the major side effects of this therapeutic system are improved health and an improved body mass index, a stark contrast to the side effects of many drugs, explained Bredesen.” (1)
Sources for this article include:
(1) newsroom.ucla.edu
(2) www.sciencedaily.com
(3) www.dailymail.co.uk
Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/mEtpP
Related Self-help Health posts:
https://selfhelphealth.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/reversing-alzheimers/
https://selfhelphealth.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/preventing-alzheimers-with-exercise/
https://selfhelphealth.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/more-on-the-coconut-oilalzheimers-connection/
https://selfhelphealth.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/more-on-coconut-oil-reversing-alzheimers/
https://selfhelphealth.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/olive-oil-alzheimers/
Salud!
p.s. Be sure to subscribe to Self-help Health so you don’t miss any future posts. Also check out my new website Evolution Made Easier and blog of the same name for more helpful information, tips, tools and resources.
Disclaimer: Please note that any information here is provided as a guideline only, and is not meant to substitute for the advice of your physician, nutritionist, trained healthcare practitioner, and/or inner guidance system. Always consult a professional before undertaking any change to your normal health routine.
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If I read correctly, the study only involved 10 individuals? If that’s the case, that’s far too small to make the assumptions that the researchers are making. I’d be curious to look at the actual research data and methodologies from the study rather than read a PR piece filtered and interpreted through the institution that conducted the study. At least it did say in the article that it needs to be further evaluated.
I’m skeptical of several things about UCLA’s article (and it could be poor understanding or oversimplification on the writer’s part) for instance, definitive Alzheimer’s diagnosis can only be made via autopsy of the brain, so in reality it’s guess that any of the patient’s involved are specifically affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Another instance: the article implied that some of the participants only reported a subjective experience of cognitive impairment (also how did the study define cognitive impairment; I can forget things frequently and get confused on things when I’m tired), so does that mean they were admitted purely on the grounds of a self report and no diagnosis prior? There are so many more questions I have regarding how this study was conducted like how they established an objective baseline of the patient’s conditions and what objective tools they used to measure changes.
As far as the components regarding reinstating hormone replacement therapy, that has a whole host of potential side effects and complications including blood clots, stroke, and cancer. Admittedly, the big debate on HRT is whether its benefits outweigh the risks. Then the component regarding fasting 12 hours? Brains require lots of glucose to function. I don’t get the benefit of fasting even if it is overnight.
The most important take away from this study’s claims is that we need more research of how the brain works. The doctor’s approach in his study should be the practice of every healthcare provider, and that’s approaching each patient as an individual with a treatment regime unique to their circumstances and condition. Every person should eat better, exercise more, and reduce their stress just a basic health and wellness plan, which is kind of what this doctor’s study consisted of.
There are larger studies that unequivocally support exercise and healthier diet contributing to better health and sharper minds. Exercise is the miracle drug treatment/cure/prevention to everything everyone seems to be searching for.
Larger studies have also given evidence that at earliest diagnosis of cognitive impairment, implementation of a palliative care program, which would consist of a team of occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, doctors, social workers, etc slow the progression of the cognitive impairment, improve symptoms, and quality of life. Palliative programs can add on a patient’s life around 5 to 10 -good- years.
Sorry for the long comment! I have a special place in my heart for dementia patients and their families. I’ve seen way too many good people get roped into false hope by some doctor or researcher eager to get the jump on the rest of the the healthcare industry. They spend precious time and money chasing after some researcher’s unicorn.
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Thanks for taking the time to leave all that input. There’s a post that I’m going to try and locate for you that contains an interesting piece done by, I believe, 60 Minutes that gets into some stuff about Alzheimer’s you might find interesting. It doesn’t really address what you bring up, just think you may find it interesting if you haven’t seen it already. And, btw my mother suffered w/ dementia for years before passing away last year, and now my father is going through something similar, so I have a special place in my heart, too. And of course I’m not an expert on the topic of anything, so I can’t even attempt to address any of the things you brought up. I’m just sharing information on the blog I come across about using natural means for addressing health issues that was interesting and informative to me and that I think others might find interesting, as well.
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I hope I didn’t convey the wrong tone with my comment. I love sifting through information, sharing it, and analyzing it. I was bouncing thoughts and questions around to get the “motor going” so to speak. My apologies, if I offended you. I tend type my thought procresses, the steps I’m mentally taking as I evaluate information, and they inevitably end up in my comments.
And being the loved one and caregiver of a someone who suffered with dementia makes you a uniquely qualified expert. 🙂
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No, I was not offended. Actually I was impressed that you were concerned about certain things and passionate enough to really engage the topic and question the data. It’s always good to have another viewpoint or perspective added and to have the benefit of someone else’s knowledge base brought into the conversation. I encourage you and anyone else to add their input to any post here on Self-help Health. If we all have the best intentions at heart and share information/feedback with the thought of gaining greater understanding about something or getting to the truth of the matter, then we all win in the process.
There is certainly an abundance of data present on the internet and you can find a lot of conflicting information and research when it comes to just about any health topic/issue, so to me the bottom line is for a person to do their research, take responsibility for their health, and, in the end, follow whatever feels right and true to them. For example, most of mainstream medicine seems to be strongly behind the belief that getting a flu shot is the smart and necessary thing to do. Personally, especially after all the information I’ve come across lately, I am totally against flu shots and think that looking to vaccines as the answer for so many things is like “looking for love in all the wrong places.” I think there is a natural way to go about nearly anything that has to do w/ recovering or maintaining health and that Mother Nature has a lot of answers we need to explore and make use of and most of them are very inexpensive and come with no side effects at all. But then that’s just my particular point of view. 🙂
p. s. Didn’t mean to get so wordy. Guess we’re both just passionate about certain things. BTW, there are several sources listed to this article. I haven’t checked any of them out, but was wondering if they might “fill in the blanks” in regard to some of the things you were wondering/concerned about.
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No wonder we both blog! 🙂
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HA! Yes, I had that exact same thought when I responded to your other comment. That’s how/why I ended up with 2 websites and 2 blogs, without really planning it. I just can’t not share information and resources with people that have found useful and made a difference in my life. I figure it will hopefully save them the time and energy to discover/search things out that it did me. The only problem is I find I am spending much more time on the computer than anticipated or that’s comfortable for my body, so I keep thinking I will take some time off…. and then I come across something that I get excited about and want to share. I just need to be on retreat somewhere for awhile where all the technology is not even available. 🙂
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Here’s the blog post I mentioned in my other reply. I think the Alzheimer’s info isn’t until the 2nd segment.
https://selfhelphealth.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/fascinating-information-on-aging-alzheimers-and-more/
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