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Why The Name Alzheimers Disease Is Used Incorrectly
Dale Bredesen: And thats such a good point. And you know, Chris, this really brings up one of the most important points, and the reason that weve had so much Alzheimers in our society. And this is because people have actually named it incorrectly. Heres what I mean by that. There are four stages of this problem. Stage one is you dont feel anything youre asymptomatic, but you already have the underlying biochemistry thats been shown very nicely by PET scans, spinal fluid, etc. So you have a period there where youre in a pre-symptomatic stage. Then you go into subjective cognitive impairment . You know theres something wrong, your spouse may know it, some of your co-workers may know it, but youre still testing in the normal range. And that is called . But what it should be called early Alzheimers disease. Virtually every one of those people we can improve, get them back to normal. That can last 10 years, and it typically does last about a decade. Then you go into whats called MCI.
Chris Kresser: And even like, There four warning lights on the dashboard, but what you need to do is just put some tape over them because then if you dont see them, theyre not there anymore. Right?
Dale Bredesen: Yeah, those warning lights are what we see with car aging. So just ignore them. Its crazy.
Chris Kresser: Just put tape over it, exactly, yeah.
Dale Bredesen: It makes no sense.
Magnitude Of The Problem
Cognitive decline is a major concern of the aging population, and Alzheimer’s disease is the major cause of age-related cognitive decline, with approximately 5.4 million American patients and 30 million affected globally . In the absence of effective prevention and treatment, the prospects for the future are of great concern, with 13 million Americans and 160 million globally projected for 2050, leading to potential bankruptcy of the Medicare system. Unlike several other chronic illnesses, Alzheimer’s disease prevalence is on the rise, which makes the need to develop effective prevention and treatment increasingly pressing. Recent estimates suggest that AD has become the third leading cause of death in the United States , behind cardiovascular disease and cancer. Furthermore, it has been pointed out recently that women are at the epicenter of the Alzheimer’s epidemic, with 65% of patients and 60% of caregivers being women . Indeed, a woman’s chance of developing AD is now greater than her chance of developing breast cancer .
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What Is The Bredesen Protocol
What is Dr. Bredesens protocol? The Bredesen Protocol is a personalized approach to prevent and reverse cognitive decline through a PreCODE and ReCODE process. It begins with a cognoscopy at the age of 45, if possible.
This consists of a set of simple blood tests and a cognitive assessment that can be taken online. This gives the doctor the ability to customize a treatment plan for better brain health.
The overall goal of the Bredesen Protocol is to remove exposure triggers that lead to cognitive decline, optimize health support, and rebuild the neural network.
Lifestyle Changes Are Part Of The Bredesen Protocol
We are facing an epidemic of increased incidents of dementia and Alzheimers due to our lifestyle. We are living longer and that means we have to place a greater emphasis on health. We didnt used to live into our 70s and 80s and beyond, so if were going to start living that part of our lives we need to do it in a functional manner.
Beyond Diets: Lifestyle Changes You Need To Make Now To Prevent Dementia
Here are a few of the lifestyle changes that need to be made to help preventing dementia:
- Brain Games Your brain can function normally well into old age. Studies have shown that brain games increase reaction time and cognitive slowing as you age.
- Exercise When it comes to exercising later in life we can all take the advice of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sitting on the Supreme Court at almost 90 years old, she still keeps an active exercise routine. It doesnt matter what you do, the important part is to keep moving. You can walk, lift weights, stretch, or do just about anything you enjoy.
- Get Social According to the book Blue Zones by Dan Buettner, people who live in one of the seven areas of the world with the longest life span, also had a reduced rate of dementia or Alzheimers. One of the key characteristics of these locations are the strong social ties of the population. Many live in small tight-knit communities where they are involved with extended family, friends, church groups and the overall community. Staying connected to others may help the brain also stay active.
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Formulated By Dr Dale Bredesen
Leading neurologist Dr. Dale Bredesen has worked with thousands of patients and uncovered the key nutrients to support long-term brain health.
Dr. Bredesen spent over three decades researching what really happens in the brain as we age. He pinpointed the critical ingredients and dosages to protect memory.
Dr. Bredesens research resulted in hundreds of peer-reviewed publications and his New York Times Best-seller The End of Alzheimers, pioneering Alzheimers disease treatment.
The Main Components Of The Protocol Include:
- All non-nutritive sweeteners such as Splenda
While the protocol does aim for a mildly ketogenic state, it is not your standard ketogenic diet and Amylee does not recommend that those with cognitive decline adopt that pattern of eating.
The Bredesen Protocol includes complex carbohydrates, fruit, and other foods that are typically avoided in a standard ketogenic diet and aims to reduce many foods that are common in a ketogenic diet such as meat and high-saturated fat animal products.
Still, the diet does include some animal products, including low-mercury fish.
Amylee offered up the acronym SMASH to help us remember which fish fit the bill:
Other components of the protocol include improving sleep, increasing physical activity, and brain training with games from companies like Brain HQ.
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Pyramid Level : The Right Foods
Go crazy in the produce aisle or preferably in your garden or local farmers market . Choose mainly non-starchy vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables are some of the most powerful and nutrient-rich vegetables to add to your meals.
Include fruits such as avocados, olives, and tomatoes, which are rich in beneficial fats and carotenoids.
Older adults, with a diet rich in carotenoids combined with omega-3s, displayed improved cognitive performance and greater network efficiency in the brain .
Consume 6-9 cups of deeply pigmented, organic, seasonal, local, non-starchy vegetables per day, gradually increasing the amount . Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables should be included.
Fresh spices , herbs , and teas which contain the flavonoid epigallocatechin-3-gallate should be included.
Early Evaluation Is Key To Prevention
Under the umbrella diagnosis of dementia, there are many levels of severity as the disease progresses. Since there is no cure, prevention is the key. While early stages may be reversed, once things have advanced, it is much harder to get back and effectively restore what you have lost.
A sign of decline is being unable to do something you could do in the past. For instance, if you used to remember numbers in your head, and now you need to write them down.Dr. Dale Bredesen, M.D.
If you are showing signs of decline, you may want to speak with your doctor to evaluate the possible causes. Certain cognitive dysfunction tests, such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment assessment, can help determine how advanced the condition is. It can also help identify the best course of treatment. These tests can help recognize Alzheimers at the earliest stages when lifestyle interventions are most effective. A few of the early stages of cognitive decline are:
SCI
At this stage a person might realize that they are becoming more forgetful and less focused. This stage is considered more challenging to assess with tests, since most of the symptoms during this time are considered subjective. At this stage, the functional medicine Bredesen Protocol can help stop or reverse the cognitive decline. A functional medicine doctor who is trained in this protocol can work with you to identify this challenging early stage.
MCI
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Patient One: Therapeutic Program
As noted above, and following an extended discussion of the components of the therapeutic program, the patient began on some but not all of the system: she eliminated all simple carbohydrates, leading to a weight loss of 20 pounds she eliminated gluten and processed food from her diet, and increased vegetables, fruits, and non-farmed fish in order to reduce stress, she began yoga, and ultimately became a yoga instructor as a second measure to reduce the stress of her job, she began to meditate for 20 minutes twice per day she took melatonin 0.5mg po qhs she increased her sleep from 4-5 hours per night to 7-8 hours per night she took methylcobalamin 1mg each day she took vitamin D3 2000IU each day she took fish oil 2000mg each day she took CoQ10 200mg each day she optimized her oral hygiene using an electric flosser and electric toothbrush following discussion with her primary care provider, she reinstated HRT that had been discontinued following the WHI report in 2002 she fasted for a minimum of 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, and for a minimum of three hours between dinner and bedtime she exercised for a minimum of 30 minutes, 4-6 days per week.
Why Conventional Medicine Treatments For Alzheimers Disease And Cognitive Decline Dont Work
Chris Kresser: So you used one example, but I want to highlight this for folks that are maybe less familiar with the conventional medicine options for Alzheimers and cognitive decline. How did the results of your trial compare with the currently available conventional treatments?
Dale Bredesen: Yeah, very good point. There are three different treatments that are now available. One is a cholinesterase inhibitor like Aricept. That will give you a slight bump, but you go right back to declining. And, in fact, if you look down the road in the long run, people actually do worse if they took that drug than if they didnt. Thats the scary part. Furthermore, if you cold turkey the drug, you drop down dramatically and typically do much worse. The second one is memantine, which has a minimal effect. The families couldnt tell who was on it in the trials and who wasnt on it. So a very, very minimal effect, although again, just a barely significant effect with slight improvement. And again, you go right back to declining.
Chris Kresser: Right.
Dale Bredesen: And this is the same sort of thing you see with strokes, you actually see people get worse. So, unfortunately, pharmaceuticals for Alzheimers currently, at least alone, do not work.
Better supplementation. Fewer supplements.
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You Are What You Eat: The Bredesen Protocol Diet
Diet and lifestyle changes are the heart of the Bredesen Protocol. The food you eat, the portion sizes and the timing of meals can all have a big impact on the progression of dementia and Alzheimers disease.
With the Bredesen diet, the main focus is on cutting carbohydrates and processed foods. These foods are then replaced with vegetables, healthy fats, protein, and other whole foods. The keto diet which may be difficult to sustain is appropriate to some, but not all dementia patients.
It is important to tailor the diet to each patient and their needs. People who are diabetic have a higher risk factor for dementia so we need to watch blood sugar more carefully. People who have poor gut health need special dietary considerations as well. Thats why the diet should be modified to fit the patient.
The Role of Intermittent Fasting
Have you ever noticed that after eating a large meal you feel sluggish and tired? That isnt a chemical reaction, your body literally needs to divert blood flow from the brain to the gut in order to process that meal. Digestion is one of the most labor intensive processes your body goes through. So eating smaller meals and restricting feeding times can allow your gut to digest food properly. Fasting also gives your body the opportunity to cleanse itself of all the waste and toxins it accumulates throughout the day.
Foods to Eat
Foods to Avoid
There are many foods to avoid on the Bredesen Protocol, including:
Bredesens 6 Alzheimers Subtypes
- Type 1 Alzheimers disease is inflammatory, or hot
- Ongoing or chronic inflammation puts you at greater risk for developing Alzheimers
Most patients with Alzheimers disease have more than one type and present multiple risk factors.
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Increase Nerve Growth Factor
Nerve growth factor is a neuropeptide involved in the growth, maintenance, and survival of neurons.
Studies show that NGF is reduced in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, and animal studies suggest that increasing NGF can reverse, halt and slow the progression of dementia .
Dr. Bredesen didnt ignore the link between dementia and NGF, and recommended two supplements to increase NGF acetyl-L-carnitine and lions mane mushroom.
Acetyl-L-carnitine is an acetylated form of the amino acid carnitine. It has neuroprotective and cognitive-enhancing effects, and has been shown to increase NGF in the central nervous system .
It’s included in the Optimal Brain supplement.
The other supplement that can increase NGF is lions mane mushroom .
Research shows that it contains active compounds that stimulate the synthesis of NGF .
I recently started taking this lions mane mushroom. Its one of the highest-quality lions mane mushroom supplements that I could find from a reputable brand. I spent a lot of time researching and looking into different sources and settled on this one. You can get it here or here.
Day 2 Of : Team Evaluation
The second half of laboratory tests are drawn . You will undergo a transcranial direct current stimulation session for neuroplasticity followed by BrainHQ or another appropriate program. You will also meet with our registered dietitian for your initial nutrition consultation and diet recommendations, and our licensed occupational therapist to evaluate neurologically-driven biomechanical imbalances. Finally, you will meet with our licensed physical therapist for your first functional movement and fitness consultation.
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Is The Bredesen Protocol Hard To Do
The Bredesen Protocol is a rigorous program that requires many significant lifestyle changes. In short, it takes tremendous dedication. People who strictly adhere to all of the elements of diet, supplementation and lifestyle changes find the most success. The Protocol uses a complex therapeutic approach that involves comprehensive changes in nutrition, targeted supplementation, sleep hygiene optimization, stress management, physical exercise and brain training, and related modalities. It is tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual, as the root causes of Alzheimers disease vary from person to person. The Bredesen Protocol is designed specifically to help people optimize their metabolism and exploit our knowledge of their personal genetic variants in order to enhance their cognition. An outline and history of the Bredesen Protocol is set forth in a book published by Dr. Bredesen entitled The End of Alzheimers.
Clinic Visit : Day 1 Of 1
Dr. Sharlin will review your progress in the program, including nutrition, movement, sleep quality, stress resilience practice, nutraceuticals, tDCS and BrainHQ. You will complete a Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and have followed up with our licensed dietitian, occupation and physical therapists. Finally, follow up laboratories will be drawn to make sure all the imbalances identified have been corrected.
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Changing The World Of Alzheimers Disease Research
An internationally recognized expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, Dr. Dale Bredesens career has been guided by a simple idea: that Alzheimers as we know it is not just preventable, but reversible. Dr. Bredesens dedicated pursuit of the science that makes this a reality has placed him at the vanguard of neurological research and led to the discoveries that today underlie the ReCODE Protocol.
Dr. Bredesen earned his M.D. from Duke University Medical Center and served as Chief Resident in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco , before joining Nobel laureate Stanley Prusiners laboratory at UCSF as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. He held faculty positions at UCSF, UCLA, and the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bredesen also directed the Program on Aging at the Burnham Institute before joining the Buck Institute in 1998 as founding President and CEO.
Dr. Bredesens research explores previously uncharted territory in explaining the physical mechanism behind the erosion of memory seen in Alzheimers disease, and has opened the door to new approaches to treatment. This work has led to the identification of several new therapeutic processes that are showing remarkable early results. Dr. Bredesen is a prodigious innovator in medicine, with over thirty patents to his name. Notably, he put much of his findings and research into the 2017 New York Times Best-Seller, The End of Alzheimers.