How to Help Prevent and Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

• The trial will assess organic growing old, mind growing old and epigenetics — The researchers will use newer blood exams that weren’t accessible even a couple of years in the past, together with phospho-tau 181, phospho-tau 217, A-beta 42 to 40 ratio, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament gentle polypeptide (NF-L). “A few these aren’t commercially accessible but, so we’re doing these as analysis, however they may all turn into commercially accessible,” Bredesen says.

• Early detection and monitoring with out a PET scan — Presently, phospho-tau 181 and A-beta 42 to 40 ratio are commercially accessible, permitting people to get an thought of the place they stand with out essentially needing a PET scan.

• Monitoring enhancements and reversing cognitive decline — In line with Bredesen, “Extra importantly, you possibly can comply with it as you enhance. Prevention is vital, but additionally reversing cognitive decline, which we had been the primary to do … We have seen it time and again, once you’re doing the proper issues, once you’re attacking the necessary drivers of the method, you see [reversal].”

• GFAP (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein) check — Whereas nonspecific, this check is a beneficial device for detecting mind modifications related to astrocytosis. Astrocytes reply when there’s an issue within the mind, so it may give you a heads-up that one thing is afoot as much as 10 years earlier than signs turn into obvious. “The excellent news is that if it is regular, you are in fairly good condition. So that you need to know that going ahead,” Bredesen explains.

• Phospho-tau 181 and phospho-tau 217 — These are particular exams for Alzheimer’s modifications associated to the demise of neurons.

• Genetic testing for APOE standing — Genetic testing is necessary to establish what number of copies of the APOE ε4 gene you may need. “That is an [important] piece,” Bredesen says. “All people ought to know their APOE standing.”

• Hormone and toxin testing — Assessing hormone ranges and screening for toxins, together with mycotoxins and heavy metals, present further insights into components that will contribute to cognitive decline.

• The flawed logic of focusing on tau and beta-amyloid — Bredesen explains:

“It is a little bit like saying, ‘There’s some smoke there. If we simply blow away the smoke, then the home will not be going to burn down.’ It is unnecessary. The important thing factor to know is that [tau and beta-amyloid] are responses and mediators.”

• Alzheimer’s is attributable to a number of upstream contributors — Whereas mitochondrial dysfunction is a well known issue, many different contributors play a job, together with:

• Alzheimer’s is basically a community insufficiency — The mind accommodates about 500 trillion synapses, and when environmental and metabolic stressors weaken this community, cognitive perform begins to say no. Consequently, tau and beta-amyloid emerge, not as main drivers however as mediators that amplify the harm.

• Amyloid is a superb biomarker however a horrible therapeutic goal — Dr. Lee Hood and Dr. Nathan Value, authors of “The Age of Scientific Wellness,” emphasize that whereas amyloid can point out illness presence, focusing on it therapeutically is ineffective, a conclusion supported by scientific knowledge.

• The failure of Lecanemab and what works higher — Bredesen criticizes the FDA’s advice to approve Lecanemab. “Lecanemab doesn’t make you higher, it doesn’t preserve you an identical, it slows the decline by 27%. That’s it,” he identified.

• Different interventions carried out higher in scientific trials — These embody ketones alone, further virgin olive oil, mixed metabolic activators (akin to carnitine and nicotinamide riboside) and protocols focusing on energetics and irritation.

• Bredesen’s protocol exhibits the very best long-term outcomes — He states, “We’ve obtained folks now who’ve sustained their enchancment for greater than 10 years. So, it’s unhappy that this drug has been advisable for approval.”

• Dietary intervention — Bredesen recommends a plant-rich, mildly ketogenic weight loss plan, with omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, no dairy, no grains and no easy carbs. “That is the method that has labored the very best,” he says. “We name that KetoFLEX 12/3.”

• My issues about polyunsaturated fat (PUFs) — Within the interview, I counter a few of Bredesen’s dietary suggestions, as he nonetheless recommends PUFs. I’m satisfied all omega-6 PUFs should be saved low, under 2% and even 1% of each day energy, for optimum well being.

I strongly suspect folks with dementia should be much more cautious, as linoleic acid (LA) seems to be the most important dietary supply of all of the drivers of Alzheimer’s, together with irritation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and dysfunction in electron transport chain such that you just can’t effectively produce ATP.

I’ve written extensively on the ins and outs of this, so for extra info, take heed to the interview and/or assessment “Linoleic Acid — The Most Damaging Ingredient in Your Food plan.”

• Reevaluating omega fats consumption and prolonged keto — I’m additionally not satisfied that the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is as useful as generally steered since you can not counter the harm attributable to omega-6 fat just by taking extra omega-3. On high of that, most omega-3 dietary supplements, primarily fish oil, are nugatory as a result of they’re artificial and rancid as well, so ensuring you’re getting high-quality omega-3 is a necessary issue.

Lastly, since this interview, I’ve come to understand the significance of carbs for mind well being, together with easy carbs from complete fruits, and the drawbacks of long-term keto. So, please perceive, Bredesen’s dietary suggestions are his personal, based mostly on his analysis, and don’t essentially mirror my very own views.

• Train — Bredesen is seeing notably good outcomes with KAATSU (blood movement restriction coaching) and train with oxygen remedy (EWOT).

• Sleep optimization — Sleep apnea is a typical drawback that unquestionably contributes to cognitive decline, because it reduces oxygen to your mind and raises adrenaline when you’re sleeping.

“Sleep is a big space in and of itself,” Bredesen says. “Affected person zero, the primary individual we handled again in 2012 who reversed her cognitive decline superbly, she’s now over a decade in on this, doing nice frequently. She’s now in her late 70s.

One in all her points was poor sleep and, after all, one of many issues that was addressed. Getting no less than an hour of deep sleep and no less than an hour and a half of REM sleep could be very useful … Poor sleep provides you extra amyloid. It is only a marker, however it’s a marker of issues that are not so good, and sadly, amyloid then provides you poorer sleep.”

• Extra methods — Different necessary approaches embody stress discount, mind coaching, detox and focused supplementation.

• Oral pathogens can invade the mind — Widespread infections embody P. gingivalis and T. denticola, which work their manner into your mind out of your oral microbiome, herpes simplex and human betaherpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A).

• Herpes viruses are linked to Alzheimer’s — All the household of herpes viruses is related to modifications within the mind and neurons. HHV-6A specifically is related to the mind degeneration seen in Alzheimer’s.

• Chlamydia pneumoniae and tick-borne infections pose a danger — Chlamydia pneumoniae can be extremely troublesome, as are all tick-borne infections, together with Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia and Anaplasma.

• Infections overstimulate the innate immune system — All these infections put your innate immune system into overdrive and should be quenched. As famous by Bredesen, COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s are “each innate immune system mismatches with the adaptive system.”

You are not clearing the pathogen, so you have obtained this continued onslaught of cytokines. Within the case of COVID, you die from the acute cytokine storm, whereas in Alzheimer’s, you die from cytokine drizzle. “It is a long-term cytokine drawback,” Bredesen says.

• Fructose indicators the physique to retailer fats and scale back ATP manufacturing — When the physique metabolizes fructose, it interprets the sign as an vitality disaster, prompting fats storage and a lower in ATP manufacturing. In line with Bredensen:

“It’s actually the long-term analysis of Rick Johnson. You speak about mitochondrial perform, about harm to mitochondria. He is speaking a few change in sign. They’re each necessary. As he factors out, once you get that fructose, your physique is actually responding to it saying, ‘Winter is coming. We’re going to retailer fats and we will flip down your ATP by about 15%.’”

• Decrease ATP ranges contribute to cognitive decline — For the reason that mind is already energy-intensive, lowering ATP manufacturing by 15% can push it right into a state of dysfunction, contributing to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s illness.

• Fructose metabolism mirrors modifications seen in Alzheimer’s illness — Analysis exhibits that mind modifications attributable to extreme fructose consumption parallel these seen in Alzheimer’s sufferers, making dietary decisions a necessary think about neurodegenerative illness prevention.

“Rick put collectively an entire desk taking a look at all of the relationships, modifications in PET scans, modifications in blood biomarkers. In every of those instances, what occurs with fructose is similar factor that occurs in Alzheimer’s illness.”

• Avoiding extreme fructose is vital to preserving mind energetics — Whereas pure fruit consumption carefully will not be problematic, extreme consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and processed sources of fructose disrupts mind metabolism and accelerates cognitive decline.

“So once more, it comes again to the essential nature of the energetics, whether or not you are turning them down by taking an excessive amount of fructose and high-fructose corn syrup, which isn’t to say you possibly can’t eat some fruit, it simply means you do not need to have large quantities of fructose.”

• The important thing to this riddle is the Randle cycle — This cycle mainly acts as a metabolic swap. Your main fuels are fat and carbs, and the Randle cycle determines how your cells resolve which one to burn. When your weight loss plan is greater than 30% to 35% fats, this swap shifts to fats metabolism, so that you just’re burning fats in your mitochondria somewhat than glucose. The glucose as a substitute will get shuttled into glycolysis and any extra goes out into your blood.

• Consuming a number of fruit and a number of fats on the identical time will not be a good suggestion — In essence, fructose by itself will not be what’s inflicting the issue. Relatively it’s consuming an excessive amount of fructose together with an excessive amount of fats. In the event you enhance your recent fruit consumption, you additionally must decrease your fats consumption, or else the sugar can’t be used for gas.

• Particular person components affect carbohydrate tolerance — There are particular person variations in metabolic flexibility, toxicity and microbiome that doubtless contribute to an individual’s potential to tolerate elevated carbohydrates.

• PUFs can also contribute to metabolic dysfunction — The opposite level of competition I’ve is that PUFs additionally seem to induce torpor (decreased physiological exercise marked by a decreased metabolic fee), very like high-fructose corn syrup does. So, I believe ripe fruit will not be going to be a serious contributor to dementia.

• Fructose from fruit doesn’t behave like high-fructose corn syrup — In a earlier interview with Johnson, he additionally admitted being shocked that fructose from fruit didn’t have the identical results as high-fructose corn syrup. Bredesen replies:

“Sure. And it makes excellent sense. The fascinating factor to me is we’re frugivore (animals that thrive on uncooked fruits), we’re descended from frugivores. The issue we’ve got at present, after all, is that our fruit has been bred to have a a lot greater sugar content material. That is the problem.

However the excellent news is, it retains the fantastic fiber and, as you identified, it would not provide you with that impact that high-fructose corn syrup and processed meals provide you with.”

• Methylene blue helps mitochondrial perform — It facilitates electron switch ahead within the mitochondria, thereby permitting ATP manufacturing to happen, even when the complexes are broken.

• Elevating NAD+ is necessary for vitality manufacturing — NAD+ is oxidized, not decreased, so it facilitates the switch of electrons ahead within the electron transport chain. Whereas there are costly precursors on the market, my favourite is apparent outdated niacinamide, which is extremely cheap but raises NAD+ successfully.

• Analysis confirmed that niacinamide helps sluggish mind growing old — For basic well being, I like to recommend taking 50 milligrams of niacinamide thrice a day. Niacinamide additionally works synergistically with methylene blue.

• Dementia sufferers have low glutathione ranges — Publicity to mycotoxins or different toxins. Glutathione in its decreased kind is much less efficient, because the oxidized kind is required for optimum perform.

• Find out how to make the precise glutathione molecule — You want each cysteine and glycine, so one approach to increase your glutathione degree could be to take glycine and N-acetylcysteine (NAC).

• Two different methods to get extra glycine into your weight loss plan — Consuming “nostril to tail,” not together with muscle meat, or taking a collagen complement or gelatin powder will increase your glycine consumption. “Nostril to tail” refers to organ meats and connective tissues, that are wealthy in collagen. Collagen, in flip, makes up about one-third of the protein in your physique, so it’s extremely necessary. About 30% of the collagen and gelatin is glycine, so it’s a superb supply.

• Alzheimer’s progresses by 4 phases — Bredesen explains that Alzheimer’s illness develops steadily, transferring by distinct phases:

“While you get Alzheimer’s, you undergo 4 phases. You undergo a presymptomatic section, and also you undergo subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) that lasts on common 10 years. For these areas, prevention and remedy are just about 100% efficient. We will forestall, and we are able to reverse just about each time individuals are in SCI.”

• Delicate cognitive impairment (MCI) is a late stage of Alzheimer’s — Regardless of its title, MCI will not be gentle; it indicators vital illness development.

“MCI is the subsequent. It is too dangerous it is known as gentle cognitive impairment. It is like telling somebody they’ve mildly metastatic most cancers. It is a comparatively late stage of Alzheimer’s illness. Nonetheless, in our trial, we had 84% of these folks enhance,” stated Bredesen.

• Reversal is feasible, however tougher in later phases — Whereas some dementia sufferers enhance with remedy, success charges lower because the illness progresses.

“The ultimate stage is dementia. And we nonetheless see some folks with proof of dementia enhance. However the farther you go, the tougher it’s to get all of them the best way again. So, we encourage everybody, please are available in early.

We have had folks go from MoCA [Montreal cognitive assessment] scores of 18 to 30, which is unbelievable, from demented to regular. We have had folks go from zero to 9. However we have by no means seen anybody but have the ability to go from zero MoCA, which is end-stage Alzheimer’s, to excellent 30 …”

• Even small enhancements are life-changing — Bredesen remembers a case the place a girl with end-stage Alzheimer’s regained independence, regardless that full restoration was not doable:

“A man wrote me a nasty notice a pair years in the past, saying ‘How dare you inform those who in the event that they’re too far alongside, they should not get on this protocol? My spouse had a MoCA rating of zero. She’s in a nursing dwelling.

We used the protocol that you just developed, she solely went up a bit of bit, however her signs had been so a lot better.’ She may costume herself, she may communicate once more, she may interact.”

• The most effective outcomes happen with early intervention — Whereas later-stage sufferers nonetheless see advantages, beginning remedy early presents the best likelihood of full reversal. Bredesen famous:

“So I do not say there is a restrict, however it’s a lot tougher under 16. You may get some dramatic subjective enhancements. And once more, we have seen folks go from 15 to 27. So, it does occur, it is simply that it’s tougher the longer you wait, which is why we encourage everybody to come back early. If all people would are available in in these first two phases — prevention or SCI — dementia could be a uncommon drawback.”