Maybe Best Line of Attack on Alzheimer’s Disease is Lifestyle, not meds

It’s been a rough year for R & D when it comes to Alzheimer’s treatments.

Last month, Myriad Genetics said a trial of the experimental product Flurizan failed to show any benefit for Alzheimer’s patients. And last fall we got bad news about Alzhemed from Canada’s Neurochem -- their late-stage study failed.

It may be years before any medical research shows solid results in fighting Alzheimer’s because researchers are still mystified at the cause and progression of the disease. They don’t really know what they are fighting against and what approach to take.

This is not meant to discourage those with loved ones being stolen from them by the slow progression of dementia. The good news is that recent years have made progress in diagnosing, treating, and preventing Alzheimer's and other dementia. Here is a list, probably not a definitive list, but a collection of tips and techniques and how to apply them. Whether you are 40 or 80, mentally sharp or lazy, you should be able to find something here that you can actually use.

Let me take a moment here to encourage victims or their families to participate in local clinical trials and studies. To find such studies in your area, call 1-800-438-4380 for the government's Alzheimer's disease Education and Referral Center, which can help you to locate studies. To sign up for email alerts about new trials, go online to www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers. You can also search for studies in your region at www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Researchinformation/clinicaltrials. General information on the disease or on trials can be found at the Alzheimer's Association website at www.alz.org.

A study by the University of California San Francisco identified these simple factors that were good predictors of who may develop Alzheimer's: greater age, scores on a simplified cognitive exam, the time it took to button a shirt, the time it took to walk 15 feet, being underweight, and not drinking any alcohol at all.

Being underweight, or sudden weight loss, also showed up in a study by the University of South Florida in Tampa. This study involved following 678 Catholic nuns who consented to a lifetime study and have donated their brains for research. The nuns who suddenly lost weight, even those never diagnosed while living, were more likely to develop the disease. So it seems that having that bedtime snack might not be such a bad thing after all. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070611092048.htm.

Exercise is an obvious part of the health regimen. It increases blood flow throughout the body, and as the brain is bathed in blood, it benefits from anything that sends more blood through the system. Walking is still the best choice for someone who is just beginning to exercise, because you proceed at your own pace and it exercises most of the large muscles. Swimming is the other best option, especially for those with joint diseases. A swim in a heated pool really helps arthritic joints or those with weight problems.

Studies show benefits from moderate drinking. The definition of moderate can vary with the study, but the standard adopted by the US Department of Agriculture is no more than 1 or 2 drinks per day for men, or no more than 2 drinks per day for women. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. See more of the report at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/alcohol.html.

The benefits of moderate drinking are lowered risks of heart attack, ischemic stroke, peripheral vascular disease, sudden cardiac death, and death from all other causes - and these risks are reduced by 25-40%. Moderate levels of alcohol effect these changes by raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which in turn protects against heart disease. It also reduces blood clotting factors that often produce blood clots in the heart, brain, and neck that can lead to strokes. For the May 25 edition podcast from Johns Hopkins that includes alcohol and Alzheimer's, click here http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/Podcasts.html

Also, gallstones and type 2 diabetes were less likely to occur in moderate drinkers than in nondrinkers. It is important to stop at just one or two drinks to avoid the serious damage to the liver and other organs.

The most fun part of fighting off the mental decline associated with aging is the playing of games or puzzles that keep you mentally sharp. Anything from a mean game of sheepshead or contract bridge, to crossword puzzles and computer games, will help in this regard. AOL recently put up a list of the top 10 Games to Make You Smarter. The list included: Hot Brain, Remission, Tetris DS, the New York Times Crossword Puzzles, Brain Age 2, SimCity DS, Math Blaster, Big Brain Academy - Wii, Big Brain Academy, and Brain Age.

Wii has proved popular among the senior community in homes and retirement communities. Nintendo had a booth at an AARP convention in Anaheim in 2006, where attendees could try out Wii and Brain Age. The games use both halves of the brain because players use both hands, and the virtual sports like bowling get players to exercise without driving to a health club, pool, or bowling alley. Watch seniors play Wii bowling at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPcY3yTXITg

A good source of free mental stimulation is online. Go to AOL games and you can play a variety of types of games all for free, and which will use parts of your brain that are rarely called upon in daily life. They have Family Feud with 2000 questions in the online version, so you don't have to twiddle your thumbs while waiting for a download. Their games run the gamut: games oriented to puzzles, words, card & board, arcade, casino, and sports. I myself am partial to both Family Feud and the puzzle game Jewel Quest.

The most user friendly online daily crossword puzzle that I have found is offered by the Washington Post (dotcom). It highlights the clue and answer squares as you work, and you can check it for errors as you go or have it reveal a problematic answer. Five stars. www.washingtonpost.com/crosswords/?d=roll_crosswords.

Another technique suggested by some retired friends is that of taping game shows. They have kept old tapes of quiz shows, and play them over again to see how much they remember. They have quite a store of them, so it takes them at least a year before they repeat episodes.

And yet, having said all this, I cannot help but recall the case of a friend's father, who lived his last few years in a nursing home with the disease. He had had his own business, a technically demanding career that involved producing machined items to customer specifications. In spite of the intellectual and creative demands of his work, the frequent customer contact, and also a large family, he still succumbed to this degenerative illness in retirement. We will never know if he had any genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's, but the lack of any real stimulation in the nursing home environment cannot have helped.

Only recently has a "milkshake" being tested by its maker Accera Inc., Ketasyn, delivered promising results in large-scale testing. The medication feeds brain cells unable to metabolize natural sugars by providing special fatty acids to the brain.

Dr. Helen Kim at the University of Alabama in Birmingham led research into the effects of soy on brain function, especially into how it affects menopausal women. Aged female monkeys were divided into three groups, each with a special diet: soy with isoflavones, soy without isoflavones, and a no-soy diet but with the drug Premarin.

The monkeys were examined at the end of the three-year study and it was determined that there were “fewer Alzheimer’s disease-linked tau protein changes in the brains of monkeys that received soy isoflavones,” according to Dr. Kim.

Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen found in soy. Poor tau protein function in the brains of humans with Alzheimer’s can cause the structure of brain cells to collapse. The research was presented at a general meeting of the American Chemical Society in 2001.

However, we are cautioned to avoid modern soy products and rely instead on traditional Japanese or Chinese diet. Asians have received the healthful benefits of soy for centuries. Soybeans have been cultivated since the 11th century B.C. in northern China. Unfortunately, soybeans have one of the highest levels of phytic acid found in plant foods. Phytic acid is a phosphorus compound that binds minerals (like calcium, iron, and zinc) and prevents absorption of those minerals.

But soy that is well fermented eliminates this problem. Fermented soy products include the familiar tofu, miso, tempeh, and the soy milks. The long fermentation process destroys any toxins and makes it easily digestible. As always, moderation is key in benefiting from any healthy food or herb.

One of the most exciting and unexpected avenues of research utilized specialized pre-sleep tapes. A project called ‘Suggestive Therapeutics’ has shown promise in a study conducted at the Mattie C. Hall Health Care Facility in Aiken, SC. Patients who were selected for this experimental program were given recorded pre-sleep affirmations as part of the project. Patients in the control group were those whose families declined participation for whatever reason.

Three days into the 90 day program, staff was rather frantic to fix a broken CD player because the results were so dramatic. A problem patient named Louisa was back to continual yelling, for one thing. All members of the experimental group showed improvement. Medication was decreased, weight was up, cooperation improved. Henry possibly showed the most improvement, resuming feeding himself 4-5 times a week. Esther, who could not be helped with medication, responded to the new protocol and can sit peacefully at her window; before, she yelled all day and night. Overall, during the 90 days no falls occurred, weight was stable and bed sores eradicated. The control group continued to worsen, with increased medication, noticeable weight loss, and behavior worsened. The families of the control group were now clamoring to be in the program. So, phase two of the study began.

A second version of the recording was also made for the benefit of staff, who could listen during their breaks. They were less stressed, and absenteeism dropped from about a third to only 3%.
Staffers began to think of themselves as healers and not just there to collect paychecks for an unpleasant job.

A pillow speaker played the recorded message as they fell off to sleep. The CD player was set on repeat because many patients get up several times a night to use the bathroom. The message is as follows:

As you relax, you are experiencing quiet, peace, happiness, and joy. You can feel God's love surrounding you. This allows you to rest in the knowledge that God's love is guiding you, helping you in every way to make each day good and purposeful. You have good, appreciative feelings for those around you, knowing that you wish every person in your life well and they hold you in high regard.
Your mind will move toward functioning well, and this will give you great pleasure. Your short-term memory is improving, your mind more alert and your recall of names and words improving day by day.
This time of relaxing will help to coordinate your nervous system and improve circulation through your body. The eliminating systems are removing toxins from your body. The foods that you eat will provide nourishment to your body.
You will be calm and cooperative to those around you at all times. You are self-sufficient. This makes you happy and proud. You will look forward to each day and enjoy life. Your short-term memory and your recollection of words and names are serving you well.
You are being healed -- you are becoming whole at all levels. The divine energy within you is rejuvenating your body, mind and spirit.

(One could make their own tape recording of this message for themselves or family members.)

Anyone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimers’, or health care facilities that are interested in replicating the study conducted at Mattie C Hall Health Care Center, may contact the ABC Holistic Health Wellness Foundation. The address is 204 TRESTLEWOOD DR SUMMERVILLE, SC, 29483-1824. You may call 757-457-7231 to order a copy of the report ‘Report of Suggestive Therapy’ or how to use the program in ‘Suggestive Therapy for the Relief of Alzheimer’s Disease.’

A brief description of the approach is given in the online July issue of the American Holistic Health Assn. at http://ahha.org/articles.asp?Id=116. In this article, author Dr. Barbara Derrick talks about its use with a widower named Wally who lived at home alone.

Other supplements are touted as fending off mental decline, among them methyl donors, but that is a topic for another article. Until then, keep exercising different parts of your brain, and keep playing games. Man is an intelligent animal that needs to play.