The End of Alzheimer's

[JackieOnLine]

It's a book, The End of Alzheimer's, which I am currently trying to read. I say that because I already started it once and gave it up as too hard.

Last night in an e-mail I mentioned to a friend that - how ironic! - I was having trouble reading a book about dementia (like that's funny) and she told me that she hasn't been reading nearly as much anymore. She used to love to read and now will start a book and then give it up, not interested.

god, that made me sad. She is just a bit older than me and has a much better life, but also works very hard.

anyway, after a good night's sleep and about 3 cups of coffee I started reading the book again and just ran into the story of a woman who started having dementia symptoms at 40 and is now back to normal and able to describe what it was like. one of the things was, she had stopped reading as much.

I started this thread mostly to help hold myself accountable for actually finishing the book (and it's not like it's a text, or something, it's for a general audience) and reporting back to you. so far I will only say diabetes is not your friend. like that's news.

if anyone else is reading or has read it, I'd love to hear about it. either way, more to come!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I have heard that the book exists. I now need a book report from you.

 

[Munchkin]

Waiting for updates.

 

[hilary1617]

@JackieOnLine I'd be very interested if you are able to share any advice from the book. This is a disease that is actively breaking my heart. I can't bear the thought of reading about it in depth, but would love if you would share anything that gives hope.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I'm only partly through, and just had to skim chapter 5 because it's too technical. I also googled the author's name and "quack" to find out right away what others are saying. This blog (a dull read) considers him woo. But that doesn't make the book without merit - it's just not the end his title says it is.

He writes that the testing science wants - where you have only ONE variable - is too difficult because the disease causes are too complicated and it's like having 36 holes in your roof: patching one won't be enough.

He considers there are three types of the disease

1. caused by chronic inflammation and tends to show up in a person's 60s - this is the type that might be called diabetes type 3.

2. caused by lack of a bunch of stuff you need - vit D being one I recognized. this tends to show up when you are in your 70s and is the one I understand the least; hormones are so complicated!

3. caused by toxins - tends to show up in your 50s - he says first responders on 9/11 are now having this one. includes mercury, too much iron, and mold.

I'm not sure if this part is controversial or even new, but he says that the amyloid plaques are the brains response to the three causes listed and you have to fix them before any drug that removes the plaques will help.

as for what to do about it, this link Memory Loss Reversed (much more readable aka easy) has a nice summary of some of what he recommends, listed below. But the rest of the book is about to tell me a patient needs to have a lot of tests done before they know exactly what need to happen and he calls it a "cognoscopy". still, it's a good list in general (it is for one specific patient). (I know he thinks we all should get off the PPIs and some of us need probiotics.)

• 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 using an electric flosser and 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

I'm thinking none of that is new. more when I finish the book.

 

[BigGeekGirl]

• 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 using an electric flosser and 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

I'm thinking none of that is new. more when I finish the book.

I've been reading recently about fasting at least 13 hours from dinner to breakfast and not eating after 6pm and its role in cancer prevention.

It seems like something simple we can do... But it's not easy! Here I sit at 8:20pm and my family just finished dinner.

 

[hilary1617]

Thanks so much @JackieOnLine. My dad is 85 and it showed up in his late 70's, so maybe the second type. Will give the recommended supplementation a try! Thanks!

 

[DianaCox]

Hilary - our dads are having parallel experiences. Dad is 86 and his symptoms also began to be noticeable in his late 70s. He's about to come live with us, because his long-term ladyfriend won't move them both into assisted living - she will have to move into assisted living once he leaves, because he still does so many things for her (she's legally blind), including cooking and shopping, but he can't drive anymore - we're ready to take him on for as long as we can. We will immediately begin long-term planning for him (either Medicaid or VA), so he can have a choice about where he will go, but one of the things we are planning to do is investigate some of the clinical trials going on here in the Phoenix are (rich in potential subjects ...).

My mom has something else going on, probably complications of her long-term type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and the damage caused by morbid obesity, including supermorbid obesity some of the time, most of her life. She had to be moved into a nursing home in VA (my sister is supervising her care) in June.

 

[hilary1617]

@DianaCox, I'm so sorry. My heart is broken for you and me and everyone who has a loved one who suffers this nightmare.

 

[JackieOnLine]

Thanks so much @JackieOnLine. My dad is 85 and it showed up in his late 70's, so maybe the second type. Will give the recommended supplementation a try! Thanks!

Hilary, please wait - those recommendations are for one patient who had been given a ton of tests. at the very least I don't want you to waste money.

both your Dad and Diana's parents are lucky to have family support - I meet so many who do not. but it's still sad, of course. in fact, dementia is often harder on the family member since the patient themselves lose the understanding of how bad they are after the early stages.

I've been reading recently about fasting at least 13 hours from dinner to breakfast and not eating after 6pm and its role in cancer prevention.

It seems like something simple we can do... But it's not easy! Here I sit at 8:20pm and my family just finished dinner.

do you know how it's supposed to prevent cancer?

this book says your body needs the fast so it isn't busy digesting when it need to be cleaning out the brain. housekeeping tasks, apparently, take place while you sleep. I hope to learn more about this. I wonder if dreaming is about this or maybe a side affect?

I need to address other stuff today (work!!) but hope to finish the book by the end of next weekend.

 

[Munchkin]

I have been through all of this. My father died from dementia and I took care of him until about 6 weeks before he died. To make a long story short, he punched my mom and I couldn't be responsible for that kind of elder abuse going on in my home. We put him in a memory care unit and he became increasingly violent towards the staff and 1 night he trashed the dining room to the tune of tables and chairs thrown through windows. I think he was trying to escape. Next he went to a 'special' hospital for violent patients where he was more or less a drugged out zombie till he died. One of his biggest problems was that he was physically in great shape and was not at all frail.

@hilary1617 I would have tried any combination of supplements, it's fairly safe to say these won't hurt him. My father was also on Cognex and Aricept and I can say we have no idea if they were helpful or hurtful.

@DianaCox If your dad has VA, you CAN be paid to take care of him in your home. I should have done this but I didn't. I didn't find out about it till after his death and they won't pay after the patient dies. Big mistake! Both my parents kept telling me his VA insurance wasn't worth anything. I should not have listened to them. Last time I checked, they will pay about $2500 per month and I took care of my dad for 10 years. Me being too damn lazy to check on this cost me 300K!

 

[BigGeekGirl]

Hilary, please wait - those recommendations are for one patient who had been given a ton of tests. at the very least I don't want you to waste money.

both your Dad and Diana's parents are lucky to have family support - I meet so many who do not. but it's still sad, of course. in fact, dementia is often harder on the family member since the patient themselves lose the understanding of how bad they are after the early stages.



do you know how it's supposed to prevent cancer?

this book says your body needs the fast so it isn't busy digesting when it need to be cleaning out the brain. housekeeping tasks, apparently, take place while you sleep. I hope to learn more about this. I wonder if dreaming is about this or maybe a side affect?

I need to address other stuff today (work!!) but hope to finish the book by the end of next weekend.

I saw an interview from a doctor involved in this study (link below).

I'm not sure they know why... Is it because the body works hard to digest food and giving it a 13 hour break gives it time for healing? Is it coincidental because those who fast 13 hours spend more time sleeping?

https://www.curetoday.com/discussions/breast/9097

 

[Munchkin]

I saw an interview from a doctor involved in this study (link below).

I'm not sure they know why... Is it because the body works hard to digest food and giving it a 13 hour break gives it time for healing? Is it coincidental because those who fast 13 hours spend more time sleeping?

https://www.curetoday.com/discussions/breast/9097

There are tons of IF(Intermittent Fasting) groups on FB and lots of youtube videos too. Lots of people have had results. So much for breakfast being the most important meal of the day! But I find a lot of these folks to be a bit OTT with the constant prattle about WOE and MACRO's.

Growing up fat taught me that every meal not eaten was a win. Left to my own devices I have been IFing for decades without even knowing it. My normal eating window would be from 6pm to midnight. And it hasn't done me any good. But that's just me. There are people who say it works!

 

[hilary1617]

I'll try supplements since they can't hurt. I'm feeling a bit helpless and having a hard keeping my chin up, so having some action to take that might be of benefit probably will help me even if it ultimately doesn't yield the desired results for him.

 

[KathrynK]

There have been several reports this year that something happens with gut bacteria that is different in Alzheimer’s disease patients. I’m not sure if intermittent fasting is related to this potential cause/correlate of disease, but the research is suggesting that gut microbial diversity may be involved. AD patients had more bacteria types and fewer probiotic types in their guts, among other differences, in other words. What is particularly interesting is how different drugs affect the gut microbiome. They report that SSRIs didn’t negatively affect it, but the jury is out on some of the other meds, like Aricept, etc. I have read elsewhere that having a herpes virus infection, like mononucleosis or invasive herpes sexually transmitted disease, might be involved and that using acyclovir (an antiviral) might have a role in AD.

This is from the prestigious journal Nature and the article gives some background about the theory that gut microbes may be involved in Alzheimer's disease.
“the gut microbiome of AD participants has decreased microbial diversity and is compositionally distinct from control age- and sex-matched individuals. We identified phylum- through genus-wide differences in bacterial abundance including decreased Firmicutes, increased Bacteroidetes, and decreased Bifidobacterium in the microbiome of AD participants. Furthermore, we observed correlations between levels of differentially abundant genera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD. These findings add AD to the growing list of diseases associated with gut microbial alterations, as well as suggest that gut bacterial communities may be a target for therapeutic intervention.”

Read the whole thing here (and stock up on probiotics) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13601-y