With the Baby Boomers slowly but surely reaching their golden years, more Americans are finding themselves contending with the likes of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and the devastating effects of memory loss that go hand-in-hand with these conditions. Despite this increase in patients, there still hasn't been any real cure found yet for undoing the damage of dementia and memory loss — until now.
A new study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that following three to six months of a certain treatment plan, nine out of 10 Alzheimer's patients demonstrated improvement in their ability to recall memories. This is a landmark development in Alzheimer's research, as it represents the first-ever case where memory loss has shown to be reversed. These findings, which were published in ScienceDaily, also presented a new case for how to approach Alzheimer's treatment and why past drug trials may have failed.
"The existing Alzheimer's drugs affect a single target, but Alzheimer's disease is more complex," writes Dale Bredesen, a neurology professor at UCLA and the study's lead author. "Imagine having a roof with 36 holes in it, and your drug patched one hole very well — the drug may have worked, a single 'hole' may have been fixed, but you still have 35 other leaks, and so that underlying process may not be affected much."
To that end, Bredesen and his team prescribed their patients a therapeutic program comprised of 36 specific points that spanned a wide range of dietary restrictions, sleep support, vitamins and drugs, brain health support measures and other protocols designed to improve memory support. Not everyone was prescribed the same kind of treatment, with each patient's 36 points varying based on their unique case.
Some examples of Bredesen's 36 points include:
- Brushing teeth and flossing gums with an electric toothbrush and electric flosser
- Cutting all carbohydrates, processed foods and gluten out of diet
- Consuming melatonin supplements every night
- Exercising for at least 30 minutes a day for four to six days each week
- Increasing intake of fruits, vegetables and non-farmed fish
- Meditating twice a day, in 20-minute sessions
- Practicing yoga to reduce stress
- Sleeping seven to eight hours a night (up from the patient's original routine of just four or five hours)
- Taking daily coenzyme Q10 supplements
- Taking daily D3 vitamin supplements.
Bredesen is quick to caution that this discovery doesn't necessarily indicate a cure-all for Alzheimer's is in sight. The treatment program is complex, with so many different protocols to follow that not a single one of the 10 patients was able to adhere to each plan exactly as they were prescribed (though Bredesen notes that, unlike other drug trials which can end up physically ravaging patients, following this plan helps improve bodily health anyway). The fact that the study's sample is so small, covering only 10 patients, is also not statistically significant enough to expect the same kind of results from a larger population. Larger surveys with a greater controlled group will be needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn about science's ability to affect and undo memory loss in Alzheimer's patients.
Nevertheless, this study marks a huge step forward for Alzheimer's researchers and indicates that there may, finally, be a potential solution to this deadly disease out on the horizon.
Check back with our blog for more updates in the world of Alzheimer's research. In the meantime, click here to read about our selection of brain support supplements.