To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. – Buddha

By Kristy Jansen

Last month, my mother’s 75-year-old boyfriend, Walt, was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  

It’s a terrifying diagnosis.  In America today, over 5.8 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and by 2050, this number is predicted to be 14 million.  Worldwide there are 50 million people living with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. 1 in 3 individuals who reach old age dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, and it’s currently the 6th leading cause of death in the United States.   The common wisdom in the medical world is that once you have started down the path of cognitive decline, it is irreversible and unstoppable. For many with the diagnosis, and the loved ones who care for them, it means an ongoing downward spiral of losing one’s mind.   

But, there are some who think it doesn’t have to be this way.  Dale Bredesen, M.D., author of The End of Alzheimer’s, is one.  Dr. Bredesen has spent his career investigating the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.  He brings a new way of thinking to the field, and new, more effective treatment approaches. Instead of searching for a simple pathogen, which doesn’t apply in chronic degenerative disease, he is asking “why” a person has developed dementia, and looking for the root causes. Instead of searching for a “silver bullet” to cure the disease, he describes using “silver buckshot” to attack the various and complex factors that contribute to developing cognitive decline. 

He writes:

Cognitive decline is largely a matter of three fundamental threats to our brain: inflammation; a shortage of brain-boosting nutrients, hormones, and other cognition-supporting molecules; and toxic exposure. What we call Alzheimer’s disease is a protective response to these three brain threats. Two of the threats, inflammation and a shortage of cognition-supporting molecules, are intimately linked to metabolism. Metabolism, in turn, is a function of our diet, our level of activity, our genes, and our exposure to and handling of stress. Since diet, activity, and stress also affect cardiovascular health and other aspects of our well-being, brain health is closely related to general health. No wonder so many of the conditions that increase our risk for Alzheimer’s disease—from pre-diabetes and obesity to vitamin D deficiency and a sedentary lifestyle—are the result of what and how much we eat and exercise.

The good news is that, although there are dozens and dozens of factors that can cause inflammation, shortage of brain-supporting molecules, and susceptibility to toxic compounds, and thereby contribute to cognitive decline, they are all identifiable and all addressable—the sooner, the better.

Last year the Optimist Daily hosted an emissary event where Dr. Bredesen spoke to Jurriaan Kamp about his Alzheimer’s Protocol and described his innovative and revolutionary approach. When I learned of Walt’s diagnosis, I went back and re-watched the conversation again.  I found it just as inspiring and informative this week as I had last year, and in honor of my friend, all the others out there who suffer from dementia, are afraid of developing it, or their families, I encourage you to watch the full interview here:

Dale E. Bredesen, MD, is internationally recognized as an expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. He graduated from Caltech then earned his MD from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He served as chief resident in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) before joining Nobel Laureate Stanley Prusiner’s laboratory at UCSF as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow. He has held faculty positions at UCSF; the University of California, Los Angeles; and the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bredesen directed the Program on Aging at the Burnham Institute before coming to the Buck Institute in 1998 as its founding president and CEO.