Several years ago, I began researching Alzheimer’s disease prevention and treatment and other neurological illnesses. I have read many books, watched lectures and interviews, and followed physicians and researchers who approach Alzheimer’s in different ways.
My interest is very personal. Alzheimer’s and dementia have occurred in my family, and I have seen the devastation they can cause in family and friends. Although I have no symptoms, I currently see a physician at a practice that follows the approach developed by Dr. Dale Bredesen, with an emphasis on prevention.
Now that I am 82, preventing cognitive decline is obviously more than an academic interest to me. Based on what I have learned and the steps I am taking, I am mildly confident that I may be able to avoid Alzheimer’s—or at least substantially reduce my risk or delay its onset. Of course, no one can know that with certainty.
I have been disappointed by the results of conventional Alzheimer’s treatment. Enormous resources have been devoted to developing drugs, yet progress has been frustratingly slow. Newer medications may slow progression in some people with early Alzheimer’s, but they do not restore lost memory or cure the disease.
I was also disturbed by revelations about questionable and, in some cases, fraudulent Alzheimer’s research. I have included a particularly interesting New York Times essay about this in Learn More.
What interests me most, however, is a different question:
What can we do before Alzheimer’s develops?
The physicians and researchers featured in this section don’t all agree, and they don’t all follow the Bredesen protocol. But many share an important idea: cognitive decline can have multiple contributing factors, and some of those factors may be modifiable.
They look beyond amyloid plaques alone and consider the health of the whole person.
Among the areas they address are:
Metabolic health and insulin resistance
Exercise and physical fitness
Diet and nutrition
Sleep
Blood pressure and cardiovascular health
Stress management
Social engagement
Cognitive stimulation
Hearing and other sensory loss
Nutritional deficiencies
Selected supplements
Large studies increasingly support the idea that addressing several lifestyle and health factors together can help protect cognitive function.
Another important lesson is that prevention should begin as early as practical. Many people don't become concerned about brain health until memory problems are obvious, but changes associated with Alzheimer’s can begin years before noticeable symptoms. That makes midlife—and even earlier attention to metabolic and cardiovascular health—potentially important.
That doesn’t mean Alzheimer’s can always be prevented. Age, genetics, family history, and factors we don’t yet understand remain important.
But it does mean that there are things we can do—and there are good reasons not to wait.
Dr. Dale Bredesen has particularly influenced my thinking.
His ReCODE program treats cognitive decline as a multifactorial problem rather than a single disease process with a single solution. It uses extensive testing to identify potential contributors and then develops an individualized program involving nutrition, exercise, sleep, metabolic health, and other interventions.
The evidence for the complete Bredesen protocol is still developing, and larger controlled studies are needed. I discuss the research in more detail in the Bredesen article.
But I find the fundamental idea compelling:
If many different factors contribute to cognitive decline, perhaps we should identify and address as many of them as reasonably possible—before substantial damage has occurred.
Some of the physicians featured here challenge conventional medical practice. Some of their recommendations remain controversial, and not every proposed treatment has strong clinical evidence behind it.
I think readers should know that. But I don’t want debates about individual doctors to overwhelm the ideas and evidence that made me interested in their work in the first place.
My purpose is to explain what these physicians and researchers believe, summarize the evidence I find important, and provide links so that readers can investigate further.
I encourage you to approach this material with both an open mind and a healthy degree of skepticism.
For me, the question that has guided this research is very personal:
What can I reasonably do now to improve my chances of maintaining a healthy brain for the rest of my life?
The articles and videos I have included are for information only. I am not medically trained, and I am not suggesting that I have answers for you. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional before making significant changes to your diet, lifestyle, supplements, or medications.
Examines allegations of flawed and manipulated Alzheimer’s research and argues that the field’s long focus on amyloid may have slowed progress toward understanding and treating the disease.