Tag Archive for: brain health

Research Update: Preventing Dementia

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How many of you have had this experience: “Why did I walk into this room—what was I supposed to do?” I’ll bet you begin to wonder, “Am I losing it?” I don’t think so, but just to be sure, I decided to present the Lancet Commission’s latest update for dementia prevention, intervention, and care. They’ve published a list of lifestyle habits that, based on research, are associated with preventing dementia. The 2024 report added two more lifestyle objectives.

I’ll present the 13 recommendations without saying how to achieve those habits with the latest additions at the end. For now. But over time, I’ll address those in future Memos, webinars, and audios as I review the complete research. I think it’s important to know the what to begin with. Remember, these are life-long habits.

Specific Actions to Reduce Dementia Risk

  • Ensure good quality education is available for all, and never stop learning throughout life.
  • Encourage exercise because people who participate in sport and exercise are less likely to develop dementia.
  • Maintain a healthy weight and treat obesity.
  • Make hearing aids accessible for people with hearing loss, and decrease harmful noise exposure to reduce hearing loss.
  • Treat depression effectively; I would add early as well.
  • Encourage use of helmets and head protection in contact sports and on bicycles.
  • Reduce cigarette smoking by any practical means.
  • Prevent or reduce hypertension and maintain systolic blood pressure of 130 mm Hg or less from age 40.
  • Reduce high alcohol consumption.
  • Prioritize age-friendly, supportive community environments, and housing to reduce social isolation by facilitating participation in activities and living with others.
  • Reduce exposure to air pollution.
  • Make screening and treatment for vision loss accessible for all.
  • Detect and treat high LDL cholesterol from midlife.

The Bottom Line

These 13 steps to reduce the risk of developing dementia are independent of genetic factors. That makes sense; we can have the worst set of genes, but if they’re never expressed due to a good lifestyle, the development of dementia can be reduced or at least delayed. We’ll explore how we can do these things in the future, but you probably see the place to begin in several habits: Eat less. Eat better. Move more.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01296-0/abstract

Science at Work

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The challenge this week was to watch two video podcasts, think about what you heard, and then provide comments and questions. For those of you who did it, thank you. For those that didn’t, I recommend that you take some time this weekend and listen to them. I’m going to share my thoughts but there’s so much information, I’ll hit only the highlights. Suffice it to say, based on the questions, there are many subjects that will need to be explained. That will take months to research and present in Memos and Insider conference calls in a way that’s understandable.

The point of the interviews with Dr. Jay Lombard was to find out the relationship between the microbiome and pathogenic bacteria and neurodegenerative disorders (NDD). That includes everything from Alzheimer’s disease to depression to Parkinson’s disease. Here are the three things that stood out to me out of the many concepts presented.


Three Things I Learned

Leaky Brain Theory
The prevailing thought is that the blood-brain barrier prevents almost everything from entering the brain via a series of tightly packed blood vessels and cells. Nutrients are let through along with some medications, but bacteria are thought to be barred.

But evidently the toxins of some pathogenic bacteria are able to cross this barrier and affect the production of the proteome, an organism’s complete set of proteins. Remember the tau mice from last week’s Memos? The bacterial toxins impact the way the tau and other proteins are folded, which renders them unusable, thus resulting in misshapen structures that can contribute to NDD depending on which proteins are affected.

Antibiotic-induced Reduction in Fevers
In the treatment of patients with NDD, one characteristic that most seemed to share is the inability to get significant fevers with infections. The cause appears to be chronic use of antibiotics over a lifetime which somehow reduces the ability of the immune system to create high fevers. The rise in temperature is a natural part of the immune system when dealing with infections; without it, the immune system will not be as effective at combating viruses or bacteria.

Heat-Shock Proteins
Think of heat-shock proteins as the “cleaners” of the body. One of their functions is to collect the misshapen proteins and take them to the organelles inside a cell; that’s where they’re taken apart and the amino acids reused. If you can’t generate a fever that’s high enough, they can’t do that job as well.

There were several other items on my list, but those were the most profound. The first question in your mind is most likely “What can I do about these?”


How Science Works

The reason I chose to focus on Dr. Lombard with the purpose of showing how science works was two-fold. First, he asked good questions. Many physicians would think “How can I fix this?” and stop there. What Lombard and Hyman asked was “What caused this?” or “How did this happen?” You find that out only by asking the right questions of patients.

The second is that Lombard went to the current research to find out if there were any answers, and he discovered where he might have been incorrect because someone had tested it. Remember that in the first interview he was sure that the bacteria C diff was related to ALS; two years later he found that there was more than a single pathogen that could be related to ALS and other NDDs. He learned and adapted his hypothesis: that’s how science is supposed to work. Instead of spending time heading in the wrong direction, science guides the research he’s currently doing so that eventually he may discover effective treatments for these neurological conditions.


The Bottom Line

If you haven’t watched the video podcasts, I urge you to do that; you’ll learn much more than by reading my review. More than that, you’ll have more questions. One of the things both Drs. Lombard and Hyman agreed on is that “we know close to nothing.” I agree wholeheartedly. When you begin by asking the right questions, you have a chance of finding out the answers. Another point they agree on is that there’s no single cause of any NDD. There are multiple factors that contribute; finding out what they are may help develop effective treatments by focusing on a potential cause.

For those of you who want answers, whether about what I’ve written or about the many other things covered in the podcasts, I’ll write more as time goes on to satisfy that “What should I do now?” question. Obviously, you’ll want to keep your microbiome as healthy as possible (a search for the term microbiome on drchet.com will point you in the right direction); beyond that I have questions I need answers to before I can provide more answers for you. I’m on it and when I know, so will you.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

How Science Works, Part 2

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How did you enjoy the first video? If you’re like me, there were some surprises and a whole lot more questions.

The second video is another interview with Dr. Jay Lombard recorded this year. Just like the other video, it isn’t an ad for a product but it does contain ads as do all YouTube videos. While the interviewer is different, the video demonstrates several things, none of which I’m going to tell you. The assignment is for you to learn how science really works. Listen closely to Dr. Lombard. If you want, send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].

Here is the link to the second video: https://youtu.be/aCTTpFnSsD0

We’ll finish this look at how science works on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

How Science Works, Part 1

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If there’s one topic we’re all interested in, it’s making sure that we keep our minds clear and able to learn and recall things every day we’re alive. That’s confirmed by checking the number of people who read last week’s Memos on EAAs and brain health.

A long-time reader sent me a link to a video called “Doctor Thinks He Knows What Causes Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS!” I decided to listen to it while I worked out on the bike. It was interesting, so I listened to another podcast with the same doctor two years later. It was at that point I decided to make this a project for you.

Assignment 1 is to listen to a video podcast from Dr. Mark Hyman, a well-known physician who treats the entire patient, not just the symptoms. He interviews Dr. Jay Lombard, a neurologist, on current ideas as to the possible causes of a variety of conditions including depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

When you’re done, write down a couple of things that you learned or had questions about. Enjoy the first video—pay close attention to the last five minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETKZS5e33VA

Tomorrow, I’ll send you a second link to another video. If you listen and watch these videos, I think you’ll begin to learn how science works.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

How to Have a Healthy Brain

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Based on the questions and comments I get, many of you want to know how to protect your brains. Your memories and the ability to make new ones are what make you you. There are many programs and even more books written about the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s. In my opinion, they’re premature because we just don’t know enough yet.

That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do to protect our brains and our memories. I recently watched an interview with Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist who wrote the book “Still Alice.” That prompted me to watch her TED talk, which I strongly recommend.

Genova’s suggestions are simple but absolutely based on the current science. Here they are:

  • Get good sleep—that’s critical. When you get into a deep sleep, the brain flushes out those molecules that can destroy neurons.
  • Exercise regularly, especially aerobic exercise for the exact same reason as getting good sleep. Exercise clears the molecules that cause destruction.
  • Eat a diet that reduces inflammation: more vegetables, more fruit, healthier fats, and fewer refined carbohydrates. With a brain-healthy approach, you might just lose a few pounds as well—which also reduces inflammation.
  • Keep your brain engaged in learning new things. In data from the Nun’s Study, autopsies showed some nuns had brains that had shrunken and looked like brains from Alzheimer’s patients, but they had exhibited few symptoms of memory loss associated with the disease because they never stopped learning. That helps you create what Genova calls a cognitive reserve: your brain makes so many extra connections that it can work around the ones that are broken.

That’s it. Eat your veggies. Get some exercise. Get good sleep. Never stop learning. It’s as simple as that. I’ll have a special New Year’s Day Memo for you so after the celebration, check it out.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: http://bit.ly/2lkoXYv