Supplements To Help Stop Brain Fog
Every brain changes with age, and mental function changes along with it. Mental decline is common, and its one of the most feared consequences of aging. There are ways you can help to maintain brain function: reducing the use of smartphone, tablet, and computer, getting enough rest, eating healthy food, and taking essential supplements that prepared by a team of experts. These can help improve memory, reduce stress, and maintain emotional balance.
Can A Tablet Really Boost Your Memory
Certain vitamins and fatty acids have been said to slow or prevent memory loss. The long list of potential solutions includes vitamins like vitamin B12, herbal supplements such as ginkgo biloba, and omega-3 fatty acids. But can a supplement really boost your memory?
Much of the evidence for these potential memory-boosting supplements isnt very strong. Here, we discuss what recent clinical studies have to say about vitamins and memory loss.
Look Out For Unproven Claims About Alzheimers Treatments
Remember the saying, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is? Unfortunately, when faced with a serious health issue, even the most rational person can be led to believe implausible claims. Indeed, thats what companies selling fake treatments count on.
One of best ways to protect yourself from fake treatments is to ask whether the claim seems too promising and if it contradicts what youve heard from reputable sources about treatments for Alzheimers disease. Companies selling unproven Alzheimers treatments often include a range of unsupported and expansive claims about the supposed healing powers of their products. These includes statements such as:
- You can even reverse mental decline associated with dementia or even Alzheimers in just a week;
- Clinically shown to help disease of the brain such as Alzheimers and even dementia;
- Supplements are used to cure Alzheimers disease;
- can reduce the risk of Alzheimers by half;
- May have a role in preventing the progression of Alzheimers; and
- Clinically shown to help disease of the brain such as Alzheimers and even dementia.
Another red flag is that many of the claims made by these companies about the supposedly curative powers of their products are often not limited to Alzheimers disease. Consumers should steer clear of products that claim to cure or treat a broad range of unrelated diseases.
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What Other Information Should I Know
Keep all appointments with your doctor.
Do not let anyone else take your medication. Ask your pharmacist any questions you have about refilling your prescription.
It is important for you to keep a written list of all of the prescription and nonprescription medicines you are taking, as well as any products such as vitamins, minerals, or other dietary supplements. You should bring this list with you each time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital. It is also important information to carry with you in case of emergencies.
Good News For Old Drugs
Another recent study shows drugs already recommended for AD, the cholinesterase inhibitors, slow cognitive decline and lower mortality for up to five years following diagnosis. The work is from the Karolinska Institute and published in Neurology.
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that functions in memory, attention, and concentration. In AD, an enzyme breaks the neurotransmitter down too quickly; inhibiting the enzyme keeps more of the needed molecule in brain synapses, facilitating neuron-to-neuron crosstalk. Three such drugs are galantamine, donepezil, and rivastigmine.
Studies so far have followed too few patients for too little time to demonstrate efficacy, but the Swedish investigation compared 11,652 patients treated with the drugs to 5,826 untreated patients, for five years from diagnosis. The drugs were associated with slower cognitive decline and 27% lower mortality.
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What Are Consumers Saying About Prevagen
Prevagen reviews are a mixture of good and bad consumer responses. Some users find the dietary supplement very effective and show an improvement in memory function. Satisfied customers report sharper and clearer minds.
It shows that the majority of Prevagen users are elderly since the bodys calcium-binding proteins decrease in advancing years. On the other hand, several users are not strongly impressed by the supplements miracle cure. The 2017 lawsuit and the supplements controversial adverse effects of stroke and heart problems have put Prevagen in a bad light.
More than ever people of all ages are struggling with memory problems. People are unable to disconnect from their work, while students are under immense pressure to perform. Brains are overloaded with information that must be remembered. A quality memory enhancement product should contain clinically proven ingredients that will help to enhance not only memory, but also focus and concentration. Memory products should help to optimize overall mental health and brain function. Most importantly a memory product should work safely and gently to promote cognitive function.
Below you’ll find some of the most effective memory products on the market today, in our opinion.
What The Studies Reveal
Some of the more popular supplements marketed for memory enhancement are fish oils ; B vitamins such as folate, B6, and B12; and ginkgo biloba extract, made from the dried leaves of a ginkgo tree. But decades of research have yet to demonstrate their benefits.
One study published in The Lancet Neurology in 2012, for example, found that among 2,854 older adults with memory complaints, those who took ginkgo biloba extract twice a day for five years had no fewer cases of Alzheimers than those who took a placebo.
As for fish oil, some studies have found that people with diets high in omega-3swhich are found in fatty fish such as salmonmay have a lower risk of dementia. But similar benefits are not linked to supplements: A 2012 review of data on thousands of older adults found that those who took omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no fewer dementia diagnoses or better scores on tests of short-term memory than those who took a placebo.
B vitamins have not fared any better. A 2015 review of studies found that supplementation with B6, B12, and/or folic acid failed to slow or reduce the risk of cognitive decline in healthy older adults and did not improve brain function in those with cognitive decline or dementia.
Our experts also recommend avoiding branded memory boosting blends.
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A Tip From A Rare Disease
Sometimes treatments for common conditions follow from success in treating rare diseases, such as the statins. In hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy , amyloid gloms onto the insides of blood vessels in the brain, somewhat like in AD. HCCAA causes strokes, brain bleeds, and dementia, leading to death in early adulthood.
Researchers from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia suggest in Nature Communications that a widely-used nutritional supplement that lowers risk of fatal stroke in HCCAA by blocking amyloid formation may also block or break up amyloid plaque associated with dementia, possibly including Alzheimers.
The team looked at a supplement called N-acetyl-cysteine , which is already used to break up mucus in the lungs and to protect the liver from acetaminophen overdose. NAC applied to pieces of skin from patients with the rare disease dismantled the amyloid protein deposits.
The supplement may turn out to be a lifesaver for people with HCCAA and perhaps a new candidate to slow amyloid buildup in AD.
Prevagen Side Effects & Safety: Is It Safe To Take
Is Prevagen safe to take? Will it cause side effects?
This is probably the most important question Prevagen reviews can answer.
According to research published by, you guessed it, Quincy Bioscience, apoaequorin is safe to consume in doses up to 4000 times the dosages used in Prevagen.
This conclusion was reached using a toxicity study; a common way to determine the safety of nutritional supplements. Rats were given large doses of apoaequorin every day for 90 days. It is worth quoting the conclusion of the study in full:
There were no clinical or ophthalmological signs, body weight, body weight gain, food consumption, food efficiency, clinical pathology or histopathological changes attributable to administration of Apoaequorin. Any changes noted were incidental and in agreement with those historically observed in the age and strain of rats used in this study. Based on the results of this study, the No Observed-Adverse-Effect Level for Apoaequorin was determined as 666.7 mg/kg bw/day, the highest dose tested.
However, please remember that this study was looking at the safety of apoaequorin in rats. This does not mean that this product is safe for human use.
Apoaequorin was put through a human clinical trial, and no adverse reactions were recorded. But again, this was an in-house study conducted by the supplement company itself; it was not a proper, peer-reviewed study carried out by medical professionals using supervised patients suffering with cognitive impairment.
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Is Prevagen Fda Approved
No, Prevagen is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate the supplement industry. Supplement companies know this; its why theyre able to use questionable science to sell substandard products to unwitting consumers. So long as products like Prevagen do not claim to treat actual medical conditions or serious health problems, the FDA cannot regulate them.
Fda Protects Consumers From Companies Selling Unapproved New Drugs
The FDA takes action against companies marketing unapproved new drugs that claim to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure Alzheimers disease and a number of other diseases and health conditions.
The FDA issues warning letters to advise the companies to change or remove claims about their products that render the products misbranded or otherwise illegally marketed, and if the companies dont comply, the FDA may take further legal action to prevent the products from reaching consumers.
To learn more about the illegal marketing of certain products claiming to treat Alzheimers and related diseases, visit www.fda.gov/alzheimershealthfraud. If you know of a product or supplement being advertised or sold as treatment for Alzheimers or other diseases, you can report it on FDAs website here.
The FDA has issued warning letters and online advisory letters regarding several of these misleading products. Photos of these products are available on FDAs Flickr photostream
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Memory And Verbal Learning
One such example is the Madison Memory Study, published in 2016 in the journal Advances in Mind-Body Medicine. It evaluated the effects of apoaequorin in 218 adults, ages 40 to 91, with self-reported memory problems.
Half were given a daily 10-milligram dose of an apoaequorin supplement, while the other half received a placebo. All participants completed computerized cognitive tests several times throughout the 90-day trial.
Compared to the group receiving the placebo, those provided the apoaequorin supplement exhibited improvements in recall and verbal learning with each subsequent test. Those in the placebo group showed no significant improvements.
Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that the apoaequorin supplement was effective in “addressing declines in cognitive function associated with aging.”
Despite the positive findings, the study was marred by the highly subjective way in which participants were selected. In the end, self-reported “memory problems” may be caused by any number of things, particularly in people with such vast age differences.
Improvements were seen only in healthy or mildly impaired adults; no improvements were seen in those with significant cognitive impairment.
Without a cohesive factor to justify the selection and other confounding factors, any conclusions drawn could be misleading or easily misconstrued.
Of note, this study was funded by Prevagen manufacturer Quincy Bioscience.
Ranking Order Of Dietary Supplements/cats Claw Products
Memory-support dietary supplements and cats claw extracts/products were ranked in order of efficacy for reduction of A 142 fibrils and/or tau protein tangles using paired Students t tests and one-way ANOVA. Differences in ranking order included>>>statistically greater than 20%, >>statistically greater than 10%, and>statistically greater than 5%. An equal sign indicated no significant difference between two or more products/extracts.
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Does Prevagen Really Help Memory
No, Prevagen does not work to improve memory. The Quincy Bioscience study relied heavily on the purported memory-enhancing benefits of apoaequorin, Prevagens main ingredient. The study asserted that Prevagen demonstrated the ability to improve aspects of cognitive function in older participants, but the study was deeply flawed and the results were not much different to placebo.
How Is Memory Affected
What stroke does to memory depends on where and how the stroke injured the brain plus the overall health of the patient. Each side of the brain controls different things. A stroke on one side of the brain will cause different problems than a stroke on the other side. This means that memory loss will not be the same for each stroke patient. Two types of memory that can be affected by stroke include the following:
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Verbal memory memory of names, stories and information having to do with words
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Visual memory memory of faces, shapes, routes and things seen
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Where Does The Blue Light From Apoaequorin Come From
Overview Information Apoaequorin is a protein that comes from a specific type of jellyfish that glows. When apoaequorin is exposed to calcium, the protein and calcium bind and a blue light is produced. Apoaequorin is a protein that was originally discovered in the jellyfish species Aequorea victoria.
Can Prevagen Treat Alzheimers Disease & Dementia
No, Prevagen cannot treat or reverse Alzheimers Disease, dementia, or any other cognitive diseases. Prevagens manufacturer knows that this product cannot treat any diseases, and they say so explicitly on their website. They make a big deal out of being a dietary supplement, not a drug. Yet Alzheimers Disease patients frequently ask if Prevagen can help them.
The thinking here is that, if Prevagen can help with mild cognitive impairment, then maybe it is good for more serious cases of cognitive impairment, like Alzheimers and dementia.
This thinking is deeply flawed, of course. The studies that report benefits from apoaequorin do not show significant improvements in memory function; only slight differences.
The experts have made it clear that there is no way Prevagen is capable of affecting the progression or severity of conditions like Alzheimers Disease, dementia, or any other condition related to brain health.
For practical purposes, doing daily brain teasers is likely going to have the same benefits as taking Prevagen every day, only without any of the safety concerns that come with using weird proteins taken from jellyfish, and without the $500 a year price tag. Looking after your brain health and practicing memory tests on a regular basis will probably do more for your memory than Prevagen ever could!
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Does The Supplement Prevagen Improve Memory A Court Case Is Asking That Question
The front of the box of the dietary supplement Prevagen says it improves memory and supports healthy brain function, sharper mind and clearer thinking.
The side of the box says: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The disclaimer, required by FDA rules, offers a reminder of how the federal government does and doesnt regulate dietary supplements. And Prevagen provides an interesting test of the relationship between manufacturers and government.
Supplements are regarded by the FDA as a food, not a drug. That means they are not tested by the agency before they are put on the market, although the FDA is responsible for removing any that are found to be unsafe once they are for sale.
Many medical experts say research has not found solid evidence that any supplements are effective at preventing neurological diseases that cause dementia. And they say that better treatments for the normal memory gaps often experienced with aging include exercise and a healthy diet.
Scott Gottlieb, FDA commissioner from 2017 to 2019, conceded that the growth of the supplements industry, which includes vitamins, minerals, herbs and other ingredients marketed for a wide range of uses, had outpaced the agencys ability to monitor it.
And theyre active. Walking, fly-fishing, shooting hoops and singing the supplements praises.
Fda Curbs Unfounded Memory Supplement Claims
- By Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
I must have seen the commercial for Prevagen 50 times. Perhaps youve seen it, too: “You might take something for your heart your joints your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you your brain? With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish! Healthier brain, better life!”
Like many heavily-advertised supplements, this one makes many claims. The bottle promises it “improves memory” and “supports: healthy brain function, sharper mind, clearer thinking.” Never mind that the main ingredient in jellyfish has no known role in human memory, or that many experts believe supplements like this would most likely be digested in the stomach and never wind up anywhere near the brain. Oh, and the commercial doesnt mention any risks of treatment or cost .
But does this supplement actually do what it says? If it doesnt, how can the manufacturer make these claims? And if apoaequorin is so great, why arent jellyfish smarter, as a colleague of mine wonders?
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What Is Memantine And How Does It Work
Memantine is a prescription drug used to treat moderate to severe confusion related to Alzheimer’s disease. It does not cure Alzheimer’s disease, but it may improve memory, awareness, and the ability to perform daily functions. This medication works by blocking the action of a certain natural substancein the brain that is believed to be linked to symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Memantine is available under the following different brand names: Namenda XR, and Namenda.
Thioflavin T Fluorometry Studies
The effects of different memory-support dietary supplements/products and cats claw extracts to disaggregate/reduce pre-formed A 142 fibrils and tau protein tangles, was determined using a previously described method of quantitative Thioflavin T fluorometry,,. Using this sensitive quantitative assay, any decreases or increases in fluorescence correlated with an increase or decrease in the amount of A fibrils or tau protein tangles present, allowing one to determine the extent of potential inhibitors and reducers of A amyloid fibrils and/or tau protein tangles,.
For the studies involving A fibrils, 22;µM of A 140 or A 142 was incubated in 96-well assay plates at 37;°C for 13;days either alone or in the presence of increasing amounts of memory-support dietary supplement products and/or cats claw bark powder extracts . The A:test compound ratios studied were usually 34 increasing concentrations at 1:0.001, 1:0.01, 1:0.1 and 1:1 ratios on a weight-to-weight basis. No real solubility issues of dietary supplement products were observed due to the high dilutions used from stock solutions.
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