Even more info on preventing mental decline!....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 9-17-2013

A.  Dr Dharma Khalsa isn’t perfect but is a foremost researcher in preventing mental decline and Alzheimer’s and maintaining function in people with early symptoms of it.

Nearly two weeks ago his assistant emailed out some valuable information.

There was a “Super Ager” study at Northwestern University in Illinois. They studied people who were older but still in great shape mentally.

1.  From the email it looks as if one finding was that these people have a positive attitude and overall upbeat outlook on life.

2.  In the study, the MRI brain scans showed  that the Super Agers had thicker brain cortices and that thinning brain cortices correlate to loss of brain cells and gray matter.

Apparently they found that chronic oxidative stress and low-grade systemic inflammation tended to cause thinning brain cortices.  (See our other posts on how stopping sources of excessive omega 6 oils, using extra virgin olive oil instead, and taking or eating DHA and other omega 3 sources in combination turns down chronic high inflammation.  So does taking curcumin and eating turmeric and ginger.)

3.  In the email they said that:  “…. research shows that (this physical brain decline) starts in your mid 40’s when your body’s principal antioxidant glutathione system starts petering out.

You may remember that glutathione is the mother of all antioxidants but can become overwhelmed and depleted as we age and as we are over exposed to the stress and toxins of modern day living.”

“….Glutathione deficiency is found in nearly all of his very ill patients.

These include people suffering with serious diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and chronic fatigue – to name a few.

So what we should be asking then is how do we boost our natural glutathione levels?

There is a compound called ALA or Alpha Lipoic Acid (has been shown to boost) the glutathione production in your body and actually raising blood glutathione levels after a 6 month period” (in a study).

Along with exercise and meditation it is a sure fire way to get glutathione levels back up to healthy levels and reduce the chronic oxidative stress and low level systemic inflammation.”

Alpha lipoic acid is an antioxidant that supports other antioxidants and works with both water based and oil based organic molecules.  (R lipoic acid is more expensive but may be more effective than alpha lipoic which is a mixture of the R and the D forms.)

And, there is a much stronger glutathione booster, N-acetyl- Cysteine aka NAC which you can also buy as a supplement.

B.  That same day, I got a separate email that said that phosphatidyl choline (aka listed as the B vitamin choline) helps keep the cells of all your body including your brain fluid and functional.  We also know that choline boosts the good kind of cholesterol, HDL, and is found in egg yolks and other foods.

This email said that getting enough choline also boosts glutathione! 

Besides getting choline in foods you can buy lecithin supplements that mostly contain choline.

A related compound, I think they appear together often called phosphatidyl serine or PS has been shown to help keep brain cell walls fluid and functional and prevent oxidation and stiffening well enough that people who began taking it restored 12 years worth of mental decline in studies.  PS is available in supplements.

Choline also has recently been found to cut triglycerides by 36%. 

Since choline also boosts the protective HDL, this means that getting enough of it also lowers your level of the dangerous small particle LDL that causes plaque, reduced circulation, and heart disease. 

THAT also prevents mental decline by preventing vascular dementia.  So between the parts getting enough choline and PS strongly prevents mental decline.

AND, besides causing the increased release in the brain cell and nerve growth factor BDNF which is also protective, getting vigorous exercise most days of every week, even if in brief sessions also directly cuts your level of the dangerous small particle LDL that causes plaque, reduced circulation, and heart disease.  This is also strongly protective against heart disease, stroke, and vascular dementia.

In addition, your doctor can tell because such exercise also boosts your level of HDL and reduces triglycerides.

C.  In addition, in the Medical News Today email it was announced today that a diabetes drug already in use apparently improves function and may be partly curative in late stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Since it’s already in use, it may be approved for that use soon.

The even better news is that you can do each of the things this drug is thought to do with things already available to you NOW!

Diabetes drug enters clinical trial for Alzheimer's treatment

http://mnt.to/a/4gQf

A drug commonly used for treating diabetes may reverse symptoms of late-stage 

Alzheimer's disease and is now in the process of entering a major clinical 

trial. Researchers from Lancaster University in the UK conducted a study 

revealing that the drug, liraglutide, may reverse memory loss in the late stages 

of Alzheimer's, as well as prevent the build-up of toxic plaques on the brain 

that contribute to symptoms of the disorder.

"Liraglutide activates receptors on neurons that set a growth-factor type of signaling cascade in motion.

This means that the cell repair of neurons is improved, the energy metabolism is normalized, and synapses are kept functional. Oxidative stress is reduced, and growth and replacement of neurons is improved. The brain is much better placed to cope with stress and toxic influences."

This is great news for people with more severe Alzheimer's disease!

Since the drug is already approved and used with reasonable safety, if it does test as working for this, in this case, making it available soon makes sense.

But the effects of this drug that are thought to cause this improvement are already available now!

(I've read such late stage people also do better when fed MCT oils which give their brains energy without the sugars that caused the problem initially.)

Here's what they think the drug does:

"Liraglutide activates receptors on neurons that set a growth-factor type of signaling cascade in motion.

This means that the cell repair of neurons is improved, the energy metabolism is normalized, and synapses are kept functional. Oxidative stress is reduced, and growth and replacement of neurons is improved. The brain is much better placed to cope with stress and toxic influences."

Regular vigorous exercise, even if brief, most days of every week improves energy metabolism and releases the brain cell and nerve growth factor BDNF.  Even moderate exercise does so to some extent.

Taking the omega 3 DHA as a supplement or eating it in wild caught fish increases the release of BDNF. Doing that plus the exercise CAN be done early in Alzheimer's and is protective before that.

One researcher documented that ingesting DHA and choline and a substance called uridine which is in Brewer's yeast directly at the same time a few times a day caused better, more normal repair in the nerves and improved brain function in people with early stage dementia.

Taking the supplement ubiquinol improves energy production in the mitochondria of older cells and might well improve the energy availability of nerve cells and brain cells. It’s also a good antioxidant.

You can have people eat wild organic blueberries which are very high in antioxidants and have been directly found to be brain protective even more than that;  eat other organic fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants; and take antioxidant supplements, notably N-Acetyl Cysteine which releases the potent antioxidant glutathione to improve antioxidant protection to the brain. Coffee, green tea, tea, and spices are also high in antioxidants.

You can eliminate the sugars and other damaging foods that cause blood sugar and insulin issues to eliminate a major cause of mental all decline:  stop all:  excess intake of real sugar, any high fructose corn syrup, agave (also high in free fructose), virtually all refined grain foods, white rice, and virtually all use of artificial sweeteners.  (Those all tend to boost the damaging triglycerides.)

And, taking 3,000 to 5,000 iu a day and turmeric or curcumin supplements derived from it with black pepper each day has been shown to help prevent amyloid plaque and may even remove it to some degree.

For early stage mental decline or Alzheimer's -- or for prevention, each of these is available now!

To the extent they are possible to use they may also work, or at least improve matters, with later stage cases if you can use them all.

So I hope they do test and approve this drug quite soon.  But the effects are each available now!