A former neighbour of mine suffered from Alzheimer’s for 10 years and recently died of the disease. Like myself, he was only in his early 70’s. I remember him in his 40’s and 50’s when he was alert and vigorous, a self-employed man with all his marbles, but in recent years he’d become just a living shell. How did this happen?
Dementia is increasing exponentially and is now the third most common cause of death in developed countries (after cancer and cardiovascular disease). Dementia is not a disease in itself – it’s a ‘catch-all’ medical term for a relentless decline in short term memory and cognition, mostly caused by Alzheimer’s.
Here is a new and terrifying statistic I had difficulty believing – according to the 2018 World Alzheimer Report, dementia is now the number one cause of death in England.
Medical researchers claim our brain is better able to heal itself than any other body organ, yet Alzheimer’s has long been held to be incurable.
No longer incurable
But great news – this may no longer be true. We are now hearing testimonials of dramatic reversals from early and mid-stage dementia by a new approach called the Bredesen Protocol. Even better still, it’s natural and mostly nutritional. It is being pioneered by an American neuroscientist, Professor Dale Bredesen and promoted here by a New Zealand doctor, Dave Jenkins. Professor Bredesen’s reversal protocol first identifies which of the three types of dementia the patient is suffering from:
The three types of dementia
Short term memory loss with brain inflammation. This is believed to be caused by a bacterial infection (chlamydia) in the brain and the inflammation is due to the immune system’s efforts to destroy the bacteria.
Insulin resistance and diabetes are often found along with this type of dementia and typically also have a deficiency of zinc, magnesium, vitamin B12, vitamin D and low thyroid activity. Often mercury and aluminium levels are high.
Short term memory loss without brain inflammation. In this type of dementia extensive destruction of brain cells is found and the cause is usually from free glutamate excitotoxins like MSG and aspartame. This destruction is generally due to deficiencies in the protective minerals of zinc and magnesium and vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Sex hormones are also generally low or unbalanced with ovary removal being a risk factor in women.
Short term memory is OK, but with the loss of mental skills such as math, speech, writing and decision making. This type of dementia is more often found in younger men and women with the causes being extreme stress, alcohol or drug abuse or the side effects of stomach acid or cholesterol lowering medications. Also frequently found is insulin resistance, diabetes, sleep apnea, high homocysteine levels, and again, deficiencies of zinc, magnesium and vitamin B12.
How the Bredesen Protocol treatment works
The Bredesen reversal treatment can be extensive, but is relatively simple. It is to identify and treat every abnormal factor and bring it back to a normal reading. So if zinc is low, as it normally is, this would be treated with a zinc supplement and likewise for other nutritional deficiencies – typically magnesium, iodine, vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D. Intake of omega 3 and vitamin C is increased.
The patient’s daily diet is closely looked at, and processed meat and burnt protein (ie barbequed meats) are avoided or cut back on with a heavy emphasis placed on vegetables. Free glutamate containing foods (MSG and aspartame) are removed as are statin and proton pump inhibitor medications. Blood, digestion disorders and insulin resistance are treated naturally and sleep apnea addressed. Sugar, white flour and supermarket seed oils are also heavily reduced, and so forth.
This multi-faceted, natural health approach appears to work. The standard medical treatment is acetylcholine drug treatment, which is of limited effect, has unpleasant side effects and at best just temporarily alleviates the mental symptoms of the disease.
Testimonials of recoveries
You can watch some video testimonials of dementia reversal on the website https://theendofalzheimers.com
Symptoms of advanced Alzheimer’s
- No longer aware of the year or day of the week
- Inability to count backwards from 20, or to draw a clock face
- No longer able to operate complex electronic appliances
- Getting lost in familiar surroundings
Alzheimer’s rare in some countries
Interestingly, although it is a major problem in most of the Western world, Alzheimer’s is virtually non-existent in some sunny countries, where the people walk outdoors a lot (high vitamin D levels help) and have a natural, mostly unprocessed diet, or diets high in fish. The World Health Organisation has reported less than 1% Alzheimer deaths in Fiji, Singapore and many Middle Eastern countries.