New Insurance Against Alzheimer’s Decline

By admin On December 20, 2016 · Leave a Comment

This is an adaptation of a recent news release from Life Extension Foundation, revealing a novel low-cost method of restoring cognitive function lost to structural changes that can occur in aging brains, especially those with Alzheimer disease (AD). The primary biomarkers for AD are deformed amyloid proteins, associated with sticky plaque accumulations in the brain, and tangled strands of another essential protein called tau. Millions of dollars have been spent trying to find ways to prevent these abnormal formations.

Now two simple nutrients have been found to stabilize and arrest both of these, with resulting improvements in functional abilities like remembering and conversing. These two nutrients are low dose lithium and a Proline-rich polypeptide derived from colostrum, a component of mother’s milk.

Lithium acts by inhibiting an enzyme called GSK-3 that causes the formation of abnormal tau proteins³⁹and their “neurofibrillary tangles.” You may recall from class, that tau proteins hold together the microtubules that transport materials within and between cells. Therefore, if the tau in our brain become damaged, they can detach, become tangled, and the cells they support will die. Consequently, any function these cells supported will suffer. It could be hearing, memory, or something else.^40,41 But lithium, it appears, can help arrest this cascade of adverse events.

Colostrum-derived Proline-rich polypeptides alter the expression of genes involved in beta amyloid formation and in tau protein damage.^42,43Additionally it’s been found to effect an increase in new nerve cell growth and connectivity.^43,44

As a result his extract has been shown to produce improvements in cognitive function and activities of daily living in human studies. Moreover, the mechanisms by which these nutrients protect the brain may confer similar benefits to cells in other parts of the body, providing new avenues for addressing several of the underlying causes of degeneration as we age. (If you are in a hurry arrow down to heading Human Study Shows…)

GSK-3: The Age-Accelerating Enzyme

Among other things, GSK-3 plays a role in regulating glucose metabolism. An important factor in brain health. GSK-3 stands for glycogen synthase kinase-3. One problem then with GSK-3 as we age is that it allows sugars to severely damage proteins that maintain delicate cellular structures. Here’s a description of what scientists find when GSK-3 activity is increased:

Accelerated aging in heart and muscle, showing profound dysfunction.
Increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Accelerated aging in the skeletal system, leading to degenerative joint disease.
Accelerated aging in the stomach and liver.
Development of structurally abnormal cell organelles including disrupted mitochondria.
The inability to clear “debris” that accumulates inside aging cells.
Development of type II diabetes,⁴⁶Alzheimer’s and other disorders of aging.^⁴⁷

You are about to learn a new term that may soon become as widely known as “antioxidant.” This new longevity strategy is to identify safe substances that function as GSK-3 inhibitors. Studies show that when GSK-3 is inhibited, healthy brain function and lifespan may be increased.⁴⁸

How GSK-3 Contributes to Alzheimer’s disease

As noted above, the brains of individuals afflicted with AD show accumulations of beta amyloid plaque and damaged tau proteins.⁴⁹ This in turn creates neurofibrillary tangles that lead to the cell death and brain shrinkage associated with Alzheimer’s.⁵⁰ Moreover, this new research now shows these structural alterations in brain cells correlate with increased activity of the GSK-3 enzyme.

GSK-3 converts tau proteins into destructive tangled clumps or neurofibrillary tangles that starve brain cell to death, eventually leading to dementia.^39,50,51

Evidence suggests that impaired glucose/insulin action increases accumulations of beta amyloid and damaged tau proteins.⁵⁰These observations have led to the term “type III diabetes” being used to describe Alzheimer’s disease. That’s because so many Alzheimer’s patients also present with glucose impairment and insulin resistance.^52,53

Studies have now shown that by inhibiting GSK-3 activity, one can effectively lower blood glucose in diabetic animals, while increasing insulin sensitivity.^54,55

Since Alzheimer’s patients frequently suffer from abnormal sugar and insulin action in their brains, this has led to the idea that GSK-3 inhibition might be a useful approach in Alzheimer’s disease, as well as diabetes⁵¹ In fact, the title of a comprehensive scientific report on this topic is:

Lithium: A GSK-3 Inhibitor

Lithium has a long history in medicine as a psychoactive drug used to treat bipolar disorder, depression, and other illnesses. But it’s actually a naturally occurring element present in most drinking water.
Fortunately, we don’t have to wait for some new drug to inhibit GSK-3, because a GSK-3 inhibitor already exists and holds tremendous promise in the fight against Alzheimer’s. This GSK-3 inhibitor is the trace element lithium.

Even tiny amounts of lithium in drinking water appear to have a beneficial effect in improving brain health and mood.

One published analysis looked at 27 counties in Texas with a variety of lithium levels in people’s water from 1978-1987.⁶⁰ The findings showed that people whose water had the least amount of lithium had significantly greater levels of suicides, homicides, and rapes compared to areas where drinking water had the higher levels of lithium.⁶⁰ Those who consumed water with the highest lithium level (but still tiny) had nearly 40% fewer suicides than those with the lowest lithium level.⁶⁰

These findings were corroborated in separate studies of Japan,⁶⁴ Greece,⁶⁵ and Austria.^66,67A review of epidemiological studies of the lithium content of drinking water showed that 9 out of 11 studies found an association with higher lithium levels in local drinking water and better behavioral and medical outcomes.⁶⁸

In clinical studies, lithium treatment has been linked to various markers of cellular neuroprotection in the brain, such as:⁷⁰

Cerebral cortex thickening
Increased gray matter density, and
Hippocampal (memory center) enlargement.

However, like any mineral, high doses of lithium induce toxicity. Psychiatric patients with bipolar disorder are typically prescribed lithium doses 3,000-4,000 times higher than the microdoses (300 mcg) given to Alzheimer’s patients over a 15-month study period. This tiny dose of lithium did not produce any of the side effects that psychiatric patients endure, nor would any side effects be expected.

Lithium is considered a trace micronutrient with a suggested daily requirement of about 1,000 mcg.⁵⁷ The problem is most people are not getting anything near this amount in their drinking water, especially if it is heavily filtered or distilled, which can remove all natural minerals.

Based on the results of a 15-month Alzheimer’s clinical trial where dementia progression was halted and no side effects observed, the daily microdose used in this study (300 mcg per day) is a rational starting supplemental dose to suppress excess GSK-3 activity in our aging brains.

Human Study Shows that Lithium Preserves Cognition

Lithium at microdoses in humans shows cognition-preserving effects.

A study involving Alzheimer’s patients was conducted using microdose lithium, administered at 300 mcg per day for 15 months.⁵⁹ Cognitive impairment was evaluated by scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination.⁶³

At the outset of the study there were no significant differences in Mini-Mental State Examination scores between treated and control Alzheimer’s subjects. The maximum Mini-Mental State Examination score is 30 points. A score of 20 to 24 suggests mild dementia, 13 to 20 suggests moderate dementia, and less than 12 indicates severe dementia.

By 90 days, statistical analysis revealed that Alzheimer’s subjects treated with microdose lithium had cognitive performance scores that remained stable, while patients taking the placebo experienced a decrease in cognitive performance scores. The placebo group of Alzheimer’s patients was approximately 3 points below the lithium-treated group (17.37 vs. 20.60) by the end of this initial 90 days, and by the end of the study, placebo controls were approximately 5 points below the lithium-treated Alzheimer’s group (14 vs. 19.82).⁵⁹

Basically, this study demonstrated that there was virtually no further cognitive decline during the study period in Alzheimer’s patients supplemented with microdose lithium.

Proline-Rich Polypeptide Reverses Neurologic Decline

Derived from mother’s milk, colostrum,⁴³ a proline-rich polypeptide, has been shown to influence gene expression in the immune system and brain.

In a lab study, proline-rich polypeptide altered the expression of genes involved in beta amyloid protein production and in the changes to tau proteins that trigger formation of neurofibrillary tangles.

At the same time, proline-rich polypeptide altered the expression of genes to increase the production of enzymes that break down and eliminate beta amyloid as part of the natural clearance process.⁴²

This study demonstrated additional protective effects of proline-rich polypeptide, including enhanced defenses against chemical stresses and decreased expression of cytokines that promote inflammation, a process long implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.⁴²

Together, these properties of proline-rich polypeptide change the expression of molecular networks that lead to beta amyloid formation and tau alterations. This mother’s milk-derived compound thus has the potential to prevent some of the fundamental structural causes of Alzheimer’s disease!

Reversal of Cognitive Decline in Human Alzheimer’s Patients

Compelling laboratory studies demonstrate that proline-rich polypeptide, when applied to nerve cells growing in culture, triggers a cascade of events very similar to that produced by natural nerve growth factor.

These structural effects include important brain benefits such as enhanced differentiation of premature cells into functioning adult neurons, and increased outgrowth of neurites, the tiny projections on nerve cells where cell-to-cell communication takes place.^43,44

Studies of anti-Alzheimer’s drugs are considered successful when they show a slowing or stabilization of cognitive decline.

Human studies of colostrum-derived proline-rich polypeptide are showing not only stabilization, but also reversal of brain dysfunction in those with early-stage disease.

In one study, 46 patients with Alzheimer’s were randomly assigned to receive, every second day, either 100 mcg of colostrum-derived proline-rich polypeptide, 100 mcg of selenium, or placebo tablets.⁷² Subjects took the supplements for three weeks, followed by 2 weeks of no treatment, and repeated this cycle 10 times over the one-year trial. This dosing regimen was designed to maximize the impact of colostrum-derived proline-rich polypeptide, which can lose effectiveness when taken continuously without a regular time-out interval.⁷²

Subjects were then assessed by psychiatrists blinded to the treatment assignment of each patient, using the standard Mini-Mental State Examination score.

In the proline-rich polypeptide group, 54% of Alzheimer’s patients showed improved scores (average improvement 25%). In the other 46% of Alzheimer’s patients receiving proline-rich polypeptide, the dementia progression stabilized (did not worsen). Patients with milder Alzheimer’s at the beginning of the study showed greater improvement than those who had more advanced disease, as is always the case, demonstrating the value of early intervention.

In the selenium-treated group, 7% of the patients saw improvement and 87% stabilized. In the unfortunate placebo group, Alzheimer’s patients with mild and moderate disease saw their mental test scores decrease by36% and 55%, respectively. Scores of placebo patients with the most severe Alzheimer’s decreased by 31%.⁷²

A second study by the same group of researchers, and using the same dose and dosing schedule, was performed to evaluate longer-term effects of treatment.⁷³ In this study, however, no placebo group or selenium group was included.

Treatment continued for 16 months, but included a group (1/3 of the whole) who had participated in the earlier study, and so were in fact treated for a total of 28 months. By the end of the study, significant improvements in Mini-Mental State Examination scores were seen at each interval, compared with baseline values.

The mental test score improvements of the Alzheimer’s patients who received proline-rich polypeptide were substantial and in the absence of adverse side effects justify a trial for anyone concerned about their mental state, or anyone desiring extra insurance against Alzheimer’s.

Note: Other formulations that I have talked about on this site, namely Perceptiv™ and Memoryze™ also contain nutrients that have been shown to arrest the development of amyloid proteins and reduce the risk for tau tangles. And overall, are probably better formulations for improving memory in most cases. However, this is much less expensive, and provides an added layer of protection (I now take both, plus others) addressing the same issues from a totally different direction.

Summary

The Life Extension report ends with the following:

“While no truly effective medication for Alzheimer’s exists,^74,75 lithium and proline-rich polypeptide contribute to potential prevention of the structural changes that contribute to Alzheimer’s. They are safe enough for regular use over the long term, and should be included in a supplement regimen aimed at decelerating destructive aging processes.

As described at the beginning of this article, GSK-3 inhibitors not only confer protection against neuronal structural changes, but may protect other cells in the body against age-associated deterioration.

Based on the data uncovered in this article, if a pharmaceutical were developed that produced anywhere near these same clinical benefits, it would become a multibillion-dollar blockbuster drug that would cost consumers hundreds if not thousands of dollars per bottle. The cost of these two nutrients, on the other hand, is remarkably low…less than 50 cents a day.”

If you would like to try this powerful yet inexpensive supplement I have arranged for you to obtain a discount. I would very much like to see what it can do for a variety of people. Just Click here. The product is called Memory Protect, you can’t miss it, and for just $18 plus $5 postage, you can start the New Year with some very inexpensive insurance against AD! It may even help you live longer, as you maintain your healthy brain. By the way, while you are at it, for just another $10 why not pick up a copy of my new book on How to Maintain A Healthy Brain by clicking here.

Merry Christmas & A Healthy New Year!