# Alzheimers..a new approach.



## Kayelle

Many of us have had our lives affected by the horrors of Alzheimers. It runs in my family and we all fear it.
This is a very interesting new approach having partly to do with eliminating simple carbohydrates from the diet. It sounds promising..

UCLA study: Non-drug treatment may reverse memory loss in Alzheimer's patients | abc7news.com


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## bethzaring

Interesting article, thanks.  I wonder if folks generally understand the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates?


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## Kaneohegirlinaz

My MIL suffered for many, many years and ultimately passed from the effects of Alzheimer.  Sadly, I never got to know her, she was diagnosed in her late 40's.

*In the UCLA protocol, patients made dramatic lifestyle changes. They avoided simple carbs, gluten and processed foods. They increased their fish intake, took yoga and meditated. They were instructed to take melatonin, get adequate sleep, incorporate vitamin B-12, vitamin D-3 and fish oil.*

These are all steps that I have been a advocate of with my husband without even knowing any of this... he doesn't want to take the test that they have now to detect the disease even though we know that men can get it as well.
AND how many times can we say EAT MORE FISH!!!  When we lived in Hawaii we ate fish at least 3 times in a week, now, I'm lucky if I can get some frozen Cod or Salmon in to him once a week...


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## Cheryl J

Thank you for posting this informative article, Kay.  It sounds like a hopeful strategy to help combat this horrible disease.  I've already been taking B12, D3 and fish oil for years, but I know I should cut back on the carbs.


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## Kayelle

bethzaring said:


> Interesting article, thanks.  I wonder if folks generally understand the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates?



You're right Beth. A simple explanation of simple carbs to be avoided is anything white or refined. Even bees refine honey for example.


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## Cooking Goddess

Very interesting, Kayelle. It's both scary and hopeful. Now to put away that bread - so hard for the daughter of a bread man to do.


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## GotGarlic

Remember two things: first, this is a tiny study with only ten participants. That could be the margin for error in a larger study. It needs to be repeated and confirmed before people make major changes based on it. 

Second, this treatment says it reverses some effects of Alzheimer's. That's not the same as saying it prevents it and the study doesn't show that doing the opposite causes Alzheimer's. 

Wheat bread and rice have been primary foods for large populations for millennia without causing brain disease.


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## Kayelle

GotGarlic said:


> Remember two things: first, this is a tiny study with only ten participants. That could be the margin for error in a larger study. It needs to be repeated and confirmed before people make major changes based on it.
> 
> Second, this treatment says it reverses some effects of Alzheimer's. That's not the same as saying it prevents it and the study doesn't show that doing the opposite causes Alzheimer's.
> 
> Wheat bread and rice have been primary foods for large populations for millennia without causing brain disease.



You're absolutely right GG. 

On the other hand, after keeping up with the pitiful "progress" since my Dad died of this in the '80's, it gives some real hope for early reversal beyond pharmaceuticals.
There certainly would be no harm in keeping the recommended healthy practices a life style. Food for thought at any rate.


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## Addie

Cooking Goddess said:


> Very interesting, Kayelle. It's both scary and hopeful. Now to put away that bread - so hard for the daughter of a bread man to do.



Somewhere along the line I developed an aversion to white bread. And I don't know why. Like most I grew up on Wonder bread and Italian bread. But when I joined the world of working mothers, I would order a sandwich on whole wheat bread. It just added flavor to the whole sandwich. 

Today at the beginning of each month, I buy two loaves. One whole wheat and the other oatmeal. One goes into the freezer. I had a half of sandwich of the whole wheat. And two pieces of the oatmeal toasted. I am not sure how it happened, I just grew away from bread. And I find I am doing the same with the pasta. I think it is just my body sending me messages. And I seem to be listening. 

But I have noticed that Pirate also is moving away from the white bread. He buys one loaf of artisans bread and is beginning to turn more to the wheat and oatmeal loaves. 

So CG, try buying a loaf of whole wheat bread for every other loaf. Experiment with others such as rye or oatmeal. Get a loaf of swirl rye. One of the benefits of buying flavored bread, is that there are fewer slices in a loaf. Fewer calories. More flavor.


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## Cooking Goddess

Addie, where did I use the word "white" in my post?  I said "bread". I rarely buy white, and never the standard Wonder Bread (Dad would roll over in his grave - he sold Ward's Tip-Top) or other "sponge bread". I buy Panera bread often, and also whole-grain types from Market Basket. Whole wheat, multi-grain, rye, and oatmeal ARE the norm in our house. Have been for ages. Since the weather is now getting cold, I might even get back to making home-made bread (finally). The no-knead, slow-rise bread just might be what I need to give me a push. I don't mind running the oven when it's heating season - would rather not turn on the oven during the summer.


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## GotGarlic

Kayelle said:


> You're absolutely right GG.
> 
> On the other hand, after keeping up with the pitiful "progress" since my Dad died of this in the '80's, it gives some real hope for early reversal beyond pharmaceuticals.
> There certainly would be no harm in keeping the recommended healthy practices a life style. Food for thought at any rate.



You're right, it's good to keep up with new developments. I just wanted to caution people about reading too much into the results of one small study.


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## Addie

Cooking Goddess said:


> Addie, where did I use the word "white" in my post?  I said "bread". I rarely buy white, and never the standard Wonder Bread (Dad would roll over in his grave - he sold Ward's Tip-Top) or other "sponge bread". I buy Panera bread often, and also whole-grain types from Market Basket. Whole wheat, multi-grain, rye, and oatmeal ARE the norm in our house. Have been for ages. Since the weather is now getting cold, I might even get back to making home-made bread (finally). The no-knead, slow-rise bread just might be what I need to give me a push. I don't mind running the oven when it's heating season - would rather not turn on the oven during the summer.



You didn't. Ward's Tip Top bread? I haven't heard that name since my teen years.


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## creative

It's an interesting article but when it describes what is involved, i.e. not just one factor but throwing in the mix a hotch potch of things, it suggests that they haven't yet managed to pinpoint any one of these factors independently as being responsible for reversing memory loss. The indication is that they might all contribute to some degree though. 

Also Vit B12 is not advisable to take on its own since all the B vitamins are synergistic, i.e. work together - one affecting the balance of the other.  A Vit B complex would be preferable/more advantageous.

I would more welcome how Alzheimers can be prevented.  My mum has a form of dementia and watching her deterioration - such a dilution of the person she once was - is quite horrifying.  Indeed, losing my mental faculties is what I most fear about growing older.


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## Kayelle

Here's additional information about the study. The case history of the patients are particularly stunning. 

http://impactaging.com/papers/v6/n9/full/100690.html


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## GotGarlic

I have great sympathy for people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and those whose lives have been affected by it. I just wanted to say something about evaluating "studies." This is not one, regardless of what ABC News calls it. It's a report, as the author says, and it's not really about AD - it's about memory loss, which is only one of the symptoms of AD. Only five of the 10 participants were diagnosed with AD. 

The bottom line is that they ate better, got more exercise, lost weight and got more sleep. That's not a new approach. We all know we need to do these things. 

I think Dr. David Katz, a nutrition researcher at Yale, has a great way of putting it: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2013...o-sapiens-are-we-truly-as-clueless-as-we-seem

His credentials:
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP has, as noted, broken bread with many of the world's leading nutrition experts. A few of them, on the other hand, have broken a baguette over his head. You can't please everybody. 

Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center; Griffin Hospital
President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Editor-in-Chief, Childhood Obesity

Founder, The GLiMMER Initiative

Follow at: LinkedIN; Twitter; Facebook 
Read at: INfluencer Blog; Huffington Post; US News & World Report; About.com
Author: Disease Proof


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## GotGarlic

I also recommend this article, also by Dr. Katz, about the intersection of pop culture and the media when it comes to diet and nutrition: 

Optimal Human Nutrition? There, There...
http://huff.to/1CKx1ky


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## Kayelle

Dementia is dementia. It all starts with memory loss. The steady decline of my Dad in the '80's took 10 long years till the end. Then, and maybe even now, firm diagnosis of Alzheimers was autopsy of the brain, and I preferred not to know for sure. The fact that his sister, and mother all died of the same was enough alarm for me. My point is, in the early stages, I wish I had known all this at the start. I would have welcomed a ray of hope free of drugs.


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## GotGarlic

I'm sorry, Kayelle. That must have been awful. 

I'm trying to focus specifically on evaluating news reports about medicine and nutrition. IMO, the headline is misleading. It's not a study - it's a set of case reports. The patients didn't all make the same changes, we don't know what their physical health was like, and there was no control group. 

We also don't have the big picture. If you're like me, you glossed over most of that second article because it contained a lot of information about biochemistry in which we have little or no background, so we're not reading the rest in context. That leaves the stories, which are more emotional than scientific. 

But again, those are all things we should all be doing anyway.


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## Kayelle

No worries GG. I understand completely what you're saying. Hope is a blessing, and I pray these reports will lead to productive conclusions for treatment of this hideous disease.


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## Steve Kroll

This theory has actually been around for a while now - since at least 2005, unless I'm mistaken. 

A few years ago, Mayo Clinic published similar findings:

Eating Lots of Carbs, Sugar May Raise Risk of Cognitive Impa [...] | Mayo Clinic News Network

Is it definitive? Of course not. You have to take these things with a healthy dose of skepticism. But, based on my own experience, I do believe there could very well be something to it. 

For many, many years I ate lots of so called "complex carbohydrates." I rarely touched soda or fruit juices, and limited myself to brown rice, beans, homemade whole wheat bread, etc. I avoided fat, exercised regularly, and tried to do all the things that the medical community tells you is part of a healthy lifestyle. Yet, despite trying to do everything right, I gained an incredible amount of weight. At one point I was 120 pounds heavier than what I weighed after high school. 

Ten years ago I became prediabetic. Last year, it had developed into full blown diabetes. Coincidentally, around this same time my wife told me she was becoming concerned because I was starting to develop cognitive problems. I would start to talk and in mid-sentence couldn't remember what I was talking about, or couldn't find words. Now many will say this is simply a part of growing older. But my problem came on so suddenly that it really scared me a little.

When I changed my diet to throttle back carb intake and increase fat, it was life changing. Even though I was consuming more calories than ever before (I currently eat around 2500 calories a day), 90 pounds of weight melted off. Like magic. My energy came back, my brain fog lifted, GERD went away, cholesterol normalized, and the diabetes has completely regressed. Two months ago, I had my annual physical and the doctor told me that he very rarely ever sees these types of health problems simply disappear.

Are carbs detrimental to everyone's health? Obviously, there are many people who seem to thrive on them. At the same time I also think we're not a one-diet-fits-all group of mammals. We've evolved to thrive on a varied diet, and there are also far too many variables involved for physicians to make generalized statements or prescribe the same diet for every single person. Some of us don't react well to carbohydrates - simple, complex, or otherwise. I happen to fit into that category.


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## Kayelle

Steve, both your story, and the link you left made for very interesting and encouraging reading!


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## Dawgluver

I feel lucky, I guess.  Both my parents passed much too soon without any cognitive issues.  Both were sharp as a tack when they left this world.


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## Kayelle

Dawgluver said:


> I feel lucky, I guess.  Both my parents passed much too soon without any cognitive issues.  Both were sharp as a tack when they left this world.



Aww ((Dawg) they always pass too soon. My darling Mom had her body wear out with a sharp mind, my Dad's mind wore out with an intact body. All that happened within 3 years. They were both the best parents for me.
The question of what would be worse to lose..the body or the mind, is still unanswered in my mind. The missing remains.


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## Dawgluver

Kayelle said:


> Aww ((Dawg) they always pass too soon. My darling Mom had her body wear out with a sharp mind, my Dad's mind wore out with an intact body. All that happened within 3 years. They were both the best parents for me.
> The question of what would be worse to lose..the body or the mind, is still unanswered in my mind. The missing remains.




I'm not sure either, Kay.  I worked in a nursing home when I was in high school, and saw the mental destruction of dementia and AD.  Sometimes the oblivion of dementia almost seemed better than the physical destruction of the body.

Sure hope we can find a cure!


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