My mom’s mother died of Alzheimer’s, a common cause of dementia, manifesting as the loss of cognitive functioning, such as thinking, recalling, and reasoning, as well as changes in behavior. As a child, I loved spending time with her. She was the perfect—and perfectly doting—grandmother. Later in life, she started to lose her mind. By then, I was in medical school, but my newfound knowledge was useless. She had turned. My previously sweet and stately grandmother now threw things at people. She cursed. Her caretaker showed me the teeth marks on her arm where my once kind, loving grandma had bitten her.
Unlike a problem with your back or even another vital organ, dementia can attack your self. Unlike stroke, which can kill instantly and without any warning, dementia involves a slower, more subtle decline over months or years. With Alzheimer’s, instead of cholesterol-filled plaques in our arteries, plaques made of a substance called amyloid develop in the brain tissue itself, associated with the loss of memory and, eventually, loss of life.
Despite billions spent on research, there is still neither a cure nor an effective treatment, which invariably progresses to death. However, diet and lifestyle changes could potentially prevent millions of cases a year. How? There is an emerging consensus that “what is good for our hearts is also good for our heads,” because clogging of the arteries inside of the brain with atherosclerotic plaque is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Autopsies have shown repeatedly that Alzheimer’s patients tend to have significantly more atherosclerotic plaque buildup and narrowing of the arteries within the brain, and the clogging of the arteries inside, and leading to, the brain with cholesterol-filled plaque may drastically reduce the amount of blood—and therefore oxygen—the brain receives.
For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.
Image Credit: Alex Boyd / Unsplash. This image has been modified.
What are the pros, cons, and efficacy of dihydronicotinamide riboside (reduced NR), perhaps the most potent NAD+ precursor, as well as reduced NMN, taking NAD+ directly, or making it from scratch from tryptophan?
What is NAD+ and what role does it play in the aging process?
A prebiotic derived from a type of brown seaweed is used for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s dementia in China. Does it work?
Obesity can be so devastating to our health that the downsides of any effective drug would have to be significant to outweigh its weight-loss benefits.
The pros and cons of all the NAD+ supplements and what are the ways to boost NAD+ naturally with diet and lifestyle?
Regular mushroom consumption is associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia, but data from interventional trials are mixed.
Self-experimentation with the anti-aging drug rapamycin continues to be strongly discouraged.
Probiotics can actually interfere with microbiome recovery after antibiotics, rather than facilitate it.
If the relationship between exercise and dementia prevention is cause-and-effect, as much as 20 percent of Alzheimer’s disease may be attributable to physical inactivity.
What were the findings of an analysis of common, non-drug, non-supplement, non-lifestyle approaches to dementia prevention and treatment?
If you have diabetes, metformin can make things better, but if you don’t, the drug may make things worse.
Which might actually make cognition worse: Centrum multivitamin, vitamin C, beta carotene, Souvenaid, zinc, or calcium supplements?
The Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease by Vitamin E and Selenium trial randomized more than 7,500 older men to take vitamin E, selenium, both, or neither (just placebos) for five years.
What does improving the cognition and function of Alzheimer’s patients with lifestyle medicine actually translate to in terms of human impact?
Dr. Dean Ornish publishes the first randomized controlled trial investigating whether a plant-based diet and lifestyle program may reverse the course of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
APOE is the primary cholesterol carrier in the brain and plays a major role in packaging and transporting LDL cholesterol throughout the body.
Chewing pressure sensations to the nerves in the jaw have neurological effects.
What can we do to prevent the decline in glymphatic brain filtration as we age?
One function of sleep is the clearance of toxic waste byproducts through a newly discovered drainage system in the brain.
Ginkgo does not seem to play a role in preventing cognitive decline or dementia, but it may play a role in treating it.
In this live lecture, Dr. Greger offers a sneak peek into his latest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.
Why did the makers of Prevagen settle a class action lawsuit in 2020 with the FTC over deceptive business practices and false advertising? Is Prevagen safe?
What are the pros and cons of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking to end your life?
I discuss the safety and efficacy of the newest Alzheimer’s drug treatments, aducanumab (Aduhelm) and lecanemab (Leqembi).
Learn about my newest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.
Just because we don’t have evidence that there is a growing epidemic of sleep deprivation doesn’t necessarily mean we are getting enough sleep.
Why can a single meal high in saturated fat impair cognition?
AGEs may be one explanation for why those who consume meat may have up to three times the risk of developing dementia compared with vegetarians.
How can we avoid the breakdown product of pesticides that may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease as much as if you carried APOE e4, the so-called Alzheimer’s gene?
If the microbiome of those eating plant-based diets protects against the toxic effects of TMAO, what about swapping gut flora?
What happens when you compare the trans fats, saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol levels in plant-based versus animal-based burgers?
Weight loss can decrease dementia risk and improve mental performance and infertility.
What shift workers can do to moderate the adverse effects of circadian rhythm disruption.
Avocados, greens, and lutein and zeaxanthin supplements are put to the test for improving cognitive function.
What is the best source of lutein, the primary carotenoid antioxidant in the brain?
Randomized controlled studies put nuts, berries, and grape juice to the test for cognitive function.
Do the benefits outweigh the risks for acid-blocker drugs (proton pump inhibitors like Nexium/Prilosec/Prevacid)? What about baking soda?
What evidence is there that our meat-sweet diets play a cause-and-effect role in dementia?
The spice saffron is pitted head-to-head against the leading drug for severe Alzheimer’s disease.
What are the effects of açai berries, cooked and raw blueberries, grapes, cocoa, green tea, and freshly squeezed orange juice on artery function?
