{"id":1136,"date":"2018-09-07T07:12:53","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T13:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/?p=1136"},"modified":"2018-09-07T11:41:41","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T17:41:41","slug":"reversing-cognitive-decline-the-surest-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/reversing-cognitive-decline-the-surest-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Reversing Cognitive Decline: The Surest Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The great news this month (with Alzheimer’s Day coming up on the 21st) as Dale Bredesen, MD, from UCLA, noted in The End of Alzheimer’s<\/strong>, w<\/strong><\/em>e now know how to prevent this disease<\/strong>, and even reverse related symptoms<\/strong>, in most cases, if the right actions are taken soon enough!\u00a0 And last month my partner, Bryan Turner, MD, and I attended Dr. Bredesen’s\u00a0Advanced Clinical Training on Reversing Cognitive Decline, to learn what he says those actions need to be. He and his team of practitioners have now reversed,\u00a0more than 400 cases of serious cognitive decline including some with mid-stage Alzheimer’s.\u00a0For examples click here<\/a><\/strong>, and watch minutes 4:00 to 8:30 of this fascinating interview with Dr. Bredesen (then click the back arrow upper left to return here for how that’s done.) Obviously there was much more info presented than I can share here. But I want to share four of the most important and most practical principles and related practices, now being applied for reversing cognitive decline.<\/p>\n

Major Contributors and 5 Types\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

First, you know there are a variety of causes of cognitive decline, including strokes and other \u00a0vascular problems, heart problems, alcohol abuse (Korsakoff\u2019s syndrome), Lewy bodies dementia, associated with Parkinson\u2019s, traumatic brain injuries, \u00a0Lyme\u2019s disease, and \u201cmad cow\u2019s\u201d disease, in addition to Alzheimer\u2019s and several others.\u00a0 But just in the field of Alzheimer\u2019s, his research suggests there are at least 6 different subtypes of Alzheimer\u2019s. Even though the manifesting symptoms may be quite similar. \u00a0These subtypes and some related causes are as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Inflammatory (hot) \u2013 caused by weak genes (ApoE4), oxidative stress, infections, with low levels of folic acid and\/or B-12.1.5 \u00a0Blood sugar related\u00a0 (sweet) \u2013 high simple carb\/sugar , soda diet, insulin resistance, diabetes.<\/li>\n
  2. Atrophic (cold) \u2013 a lack of essential hormones like thyroid, adrenal, pregnenolone, DHEA, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, vitamin D, micro lithium, lack of exercise.<\/li>\n
  3. Toxic (vile) \u2013 exposure to lead, aluminum, mercury, molds, tics – lymes disease, pesticides, fumes, etc., \u00a0in combination with suboptimal glutathione or an overwhelmed immune system.<\/li>\n
  4. Vascular (pale) \u2013 partially blocked, or atrophied arteries, high blood pressure, strokes, TIA\u2019s, heart\u00a0 blockages, bleeds, heart surgeries, lack of exercise, etc.<\/li>\n
  5. Traumatic (dazed) \u2013 repeated blows to the head, falls, car accidents, head injuries, concussions, etc<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Of course there are various things that can contribute to each of these. \u00a0Dr Bredesen says likely more than 60 factors, but hopefully less than 100. This is important for reversing cognitive decline because of the following principles and required actions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Four Key Principles and Actions to Pursue<\/p>\n

    <\/strong><\/h5>\n

    Principle # 1<\/strong> In order to reverse cognitive decline, it\u2019s important to first identify the underlying causes of that decline. \u00a0Otherwise progress may to be short lived or impossible.<\/p>\n

    Required actions:<\/strong>\u00a0 Identify as many possible contributors from the above noted list and others. I have a 70+ item questionnaire I can send to you, which will help to identify most underlying risk factors. I can also send you a list of recommended blood tests you may want to request.<\/p>\n

    Principle # 2<\/strong> Once the underlying contributors or factors are identified they will be easier to resolve or eliminate, and this should lead to symptom reduction.<\/p>\n

    Required actions:<\/strong> \u00a0Apply the latest research related to the particular underlying issues, to overcome any risk factors or vulnerabilities. Ideally find a Functional Medicine Practitioner in your area, trained in the Bredesen Protocol, or contact us for further assistance in finding what you need to resolve your\/their issues.<\/p>\n

    Principle # 3<\/strong> Objective as well as subjective measures of ability are important to know if you or the person being treated is on the right track and making progress.<\/p>\n

    Required actions:<\/strong>\u00a0 Identify and take a few tests, ideally both abilities tests and blood tests, as well as the observations of others, to measure and track progress.<\/p>\n

    The most appropriate abilities tests will depend on the individual\u2019s levels of ability to begin with. There are some basic blood tests that will apply to most people, others depend on their most likely contributing factors. \u00a0And because people with memory problems often forget what they forgot, the observations of others can be very helpful as well.<\/p>\n

    Principle # 4<\/strong>\u00a0 Because every person is different, and significant losses may have occurred, rebuilding\u00a0 the brain takes time, and needs may change as people progress. Seldom is the perfect solution arrived at on the first try. So it usually takes some tweeking to optimize performance.<\/p>\n

    Required actions:\u00a0<\/strong> If good progress is not made initially (usually takes 2-5 months to see good progress), continue to experiment on various potential remedies, until you find a good combination that arrests the decline, and then enables improvements.<\/p>\n

    This is why objective testing is important, as the person may not be able to see much progress initially.\u00a0 Sensitive behavioral measures, others observations, and some basic blood work can help to determine if the interventions are working, until better progress is more visible.<\/p>\n

    Patient Persistence Pays Off – Gotta Give It Time<\/p>\n

    <\/strong><\/h5>\n

    Generally in the early weeks and months, progress is very slow if not imperceptible. Often the person will say things like. \u201cSometimes I feel I\u2019m doing better, but I can\u2019t tell if that\u2019s real or wishful thinking.\u201c And often people with more serious impairments will continue their decline for several months until enough structures have been improved in the body to effect a measurable difference in performance.\u00a0 So it\u2019s very important to be patient and persist with proven principles and practices \u00a0in order to realize the desired outcomes. It likely took some time to compromise the brain and cause the decline. And will likely take some time to reverse that. One of the biggest problems is that people become too impatient and give up too soon.<\/p>\n

    If you know someone, experiencing cognitive decline who needs assistance, and you are a health care professional and would like to help them, let me know.\u00a0 I would be glad to share with you some of the tools you can use to help identify their needs and measure their abilities and progress. \u00a0If you are not a healthcare professional and know someone with challenges feel free to give me a call or send me an email (801-529-8238<\/strong> or David@abcbrain.org<\/strong>).\u00a0 We work with people all over the country, and may be able to help find local testing or providers who can help as well. \u00a0The best news is that now, working together Alzheimer\u2019s symptoms, and other related decline can now be reversed \u2013 in most cases!\u00a0 Dementia can be prevented, and lives can be changed!\u00a0 But it\u2019s important that people not delay. Perhaps the most important principle to remember is that the sooner we get started the easier it is to reverse cognitive decline.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    <\/a>The great news this month (with Alzheimer’s Day coming up on the 21st) as Dale Bredesen, MD, from UCLA, noted in The End of Alzheimer’s, we now know how to prevent this disease, and even reverse related symptoms, in most cases, if the right actions are taken soon enough!\u00a0 And last month my partner, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prevention-strategies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1136"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4abettermemory.com\/memory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}