Focus on Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and is the leading cause of death in England and Wales. Already, 850,000 people are estimated to be living with dementia in the UK. Over half the UK public know someone who has been diagnosed with some form of dementia. Statistically, a woman in the Western world has a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease than breast cancer. The number of people with dementia in the UK is expected to rise rapidly in the UK over the next several decades, so things are not looking so good. Is there anything that we can do about it?
Why monotherapy has failed
The answer is yes, quite a lot, it seems. But you won’t find solutions in conventional medicine. Primary Care Providers often do not refer as they believe that there is no effective therapy for Alzheimer’s. Patients don’t seek help because they believe that nothing can be done; they fear losing their driving license, the stigma of being diagnosed and being placed in a nursing home. When specialists put patients through hours of neuropsychological testing, imaging, painful lumbar puncture and then have nothing to offer therapeutically, this promotes a sense of fear and helplessness that nothing can be done. Drug therapy and monotherapies (single drug interventions) for neurodegenerative diseases have so far been unsuccessful. In the last decade, 243 out of 244 drugs have failed; ‘success’ offers only marginal short-term relief to some patients. Millions have been spent on drugs research for Alzheimers with no effective treatment to show for it.
The Bredesen Protocol
Enter Dale Bredesen, Professor of Neurology and Director of Neurodegenerative Disease Research at UCLA and The Bredesen Protocol. Professor Bredesen’s clinical trails for Alzheimer’s showed the first ever positive breakthrough in therapy that demonstrated the reversal of early stage Alzheimer’s disease. He has since founded the company MPI Cognition with the purpose of reducing the global burden of dementia and to prevent cognitive decline in all those who are at risk.
Professor Bredesen’s science-based conclusions are that monotherapy (single tissue target therapy) has never worked because Alzheimer’s disease, like all degenerative diseases, is a condition of multiple causes affecting multiple body systems. It is largely preventable and modifiable up until late stages of the disease. Nutrition and lifestyle components are at the heart of the Bredesen programme.
A personalised approach to tackle multiple causes
Rather than an ineffective single pill, the Bredesen Protocol is a personalised approach that targets the multiple underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Complexity is the main obstacle in conventional treatments. Professor Bredesen likens this to a roof with many holes. Plugging just one hole with a single drug doesn’t work. In contrast, The Bredesen Protocol simultaneously tackles the amyloid plaques, tau protein tangles, inflammation, toxicity, hormone imbalance, genetic errors, deficiencies, infections and lifestyle factors that characterise the condition. Professor Bredesen’s approach shows that diet, lifestyle and environmental interventions are even effective for people with genetic susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease.
Doing the detective work
I was fortunate to attend training run by Professor Bredesen a few years ago in London because I am now seeing a growing number of Alzheimer’s patients in my clinic. I know how important a personalised approach tailored to individual patient needs is in a condition of multiple causes. I know how important it is to do the detective work via lab tests to identifying the specific triggers for that patient.
Five Subtypes of Alzheimer’s
In the course of his research, Professor Bredesen identified 5 main subtypes of Alzheimer’s. There can be mixture of subtypes in one person but there are usually one or two subtypes that are dominant. These are:
a) Inflammatory/infectious (hot) - Here I look for positive biomarkers of inflammation: C-Reactive Protein, Interleukin-6, NFkappaB, insulin resistance, active infections such as Epstein Barr Virus, Coxsackievirus, shingles, fungal infections, Lyme and others.
b) Glycotoxic - People in this subset may have type 2 diabetes and a mixture of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ Alzheimer’s features.
Atrophic (cold Alzheimer’s) - These people are often characterised by ‘burn out’ and can have low markers for insulin (necessary for brain cell formation), hormones, Vitamin D, TNF alpha and Interleukin -6.
Toxic - Here we have a different clinical picture tending to affect younger people (45-65 years of age). Often without memory loss but with other cognitive dysfunctions. Mineral deficiencies and/or mould and metal toxicity ( mercury, aluminium, cadmium, arsenic, lead etc.) are often contributory.
Vascular - This subtype is characterised by impaired/reduced blood flow and may have underlying diabetes or cardiovascular disease or high homocysteine levels as part of its clinical picture.
Traumatic brain injury - This is certainly a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Injury predisposes towards infections that can invade the brain and contribute towards to the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.
The way forward
Taking a thorough case history and doing a careful evaluation of the underlying biology identifies what actions need to be done. Breaking down what can be a complex picture into the above factors cuts through the complexity. Then the patient can get on and do what needs to be done. Part of this is a nutritional plan which based on real, not invented foods, using fibre and good fats for fuel instead of refined carbohydrates and sugars. The Bredesen clinical trial using this nutritional base was an outstanding success. The only people (a very small number) who failed the trial were those who could not stick to their diet. I tell my patients to use nutrition as their disease-modulating drug. There really isn’t an alternative.
Hope for the future
Perhaps the most important thing to come out of Professor Bredesen’s research is that Alzheimer’s disease is not an omnipotent neurological disorder over which we have largely no control. Rather, it is a multi-factorial metabolic disease which is largely under our control. With this knowledge we can be self-empowered about out health, not just for Alzheimer’s but for the gamut of degenerative diseases which inflict modern society.
If you would like help with Alzheimer’s or how to reduce your risk factors in getting it, please email me at goodhealthclinic@outlook.com.