With all of the above being stated, it makes sense that
scientists are actively working on finding a cure of the disease, or at a
minimum, reversing some of the symptoms that are commonly associated with it. A
recently study published by the Alzheimer’s Disease Research lab at UCLA are
reporting that memory loss in patients with Alzheimer’s disease may be reversed
and sustained. This was accomplished by using a combination of treatments that
were specifically targeted to each of the 10 patients that they were studying.
All patients in this study reported moderate to
severe levels of Alzheimer’s disease. Some patients reported often getting lost
and disoriented while driving; others reported having to leave their jobs due
to the severity of the disease. The amazing thing about this study is that
within three to six months of starting this particular treatment regiment, nine
out of the ten patients reported significant improvements in their memory!
Furthermore, those who felt the pressure to quit their employment were all able to return to their
jobs.
Common therapies that were shared among the majority of the
patients included eliminating all simple carbohydrates from their diet, often
leading to weight loss. In addition to cutting out simple carbs, patients were
also asked to eliminate gluten and processed foods from their diets, while
increasing their consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables, and non-farmed fish.
Furthermore, patients were asked to reduce their stress by meditating or
practicing yoga, and to ensure that they were getting an adequate amount of
sleep every night. Patients were also asked to start an exercise program within
ACSM guidelines of 30minutes most days of the week if they were not physically
active. Lastly, some patients were asked to take vitamins and supplements, such
as Vitamin D3, Fish Oil, and Coenzyme Q10.
In my opinion, the results from this study are basically
telling us that we need to be taking better care of our bodies and minds, for overall
better physical and mental health as we age. While leads us to some good inner self reflection. While most of us know that we are
supposed to exercise most days, how many of us are actually receiving this
adequate amount of cardiovascular exercise? How many of us are ensuring that we
are actually consuming enough fruits and vegetables (especially the green-leafy kind)? Most
eye opening, along with the attractiveness of convenience, how many of us are actually eating simple carbohydrates and processed
foods on a daily basis?
I think that this is an area that will continue to receive
further study based on the fact that everyone has the potential to be affected
by a decline in mental capacity. It is very easy for those of us who know the
associated risk factors for the disease, yet continue to practice what we know
will ultimately lead to mental decline in older age. I believe that in order to
affectively change habits for the better, individual’s need to implement an
overall lifestyle change. I would also hope that some evidence of this study is enough to persuade someone's lifestyle choices and habits for the better. Taking this recent information to heart, you can bet
that I will be.
Sources:
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather has Alzheimer's and it has been so hard for me to see him going down hill so fast. He went in for surgery completely normal and with normal memory function (so we believe) and came out of surgery different. After surgery he started showing symptoms of Alzheimer's and now he has officially been diagnosed. Prior to surgery he had never taken any drugs and we believe that the anesthesia during surgery did something to his brain. Because he has been declining so rapidly, my family has been reading several books on Alzheimer's. A book I came across is called The Grain Brain. The book describes how gluten and grains causes an inflammatory response in the brain leading to inflammation. Brain inflammation is linked to several neurological disorders. The author discussed Alzheimer's being a disease related to brain inflammation which is connected to gluten consumption. He also mentions that those who completely left gluten out of their diets had increased memory and decreased the effects of dementia in Alzheimer's patients. What if this is a new therapy? Could this be another way to enhance the gluten fad or does gluten actually decrease brain inflammation and this discovering could help improve individuals lives?
http://www.drperlmutter.com/about/grain-brain-by-david-perlmutter/
This is a very informative and important blog post. With the rising Alzheimer's rates anything that can help prevent the onset of dementia is important for us as future health practitioners and also for our own health. While searching for my own article I found an interesting article that mentioned a possible compound in turmeric, ar-turmerone, that has been found to increase neuron proliferation in the subventricular zone and the hippocampus when injected into rat brains. Do you think this could be viable in humans? Also, if ar-turmerone injection becomes a viable treatment for people with Alzheimer's could this discourage people to live a preventative lifestyle suggested in your post?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283109.php
This is such an interesting post Tyler! We believe my grandma had Alzheimer’s too. I have been trying to cut out processed foods lately, to decrease the number of toxins my body has to filter, and this definitely makes me want to work harder at it! However, especially now with school it has been harder to make time for cooking healthy meals and exercising regularly. Yet, I make time for exercise and use it as a study break and stress relief. I would be curious if this treatment, which seemed to drastically reduce symptoms patients had, also caused physical changes in the brain. Hopefully these individuals are monitored long term to see if the disease continues to progress, or if this lifestyle changes slows down progression. My post is also related to Alzheimer’s disease and the region it commonly develops in, the entorhinal cortex.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting study Tyler, I had never heard of any successful therapies at reversing the memory effects of Alzheimer’s before reading this. I think personalized medicine rather than just one specific drug for everyone is the future of treating complex neurological disorders like you described in the second paragraph. I know that oxidative stress is likely to blame for the pathological evidence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. It is an interesting debate whether this oxidative stress is more likely to blame from one’s diet or the lost ability of one’s neurons to initiate mechanisms that cope with these free radicals, I tend to side more with the latter.
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