Friday, December 24, 2010

REVERSING DEMENTIA

Loosing a dear friend from Alzheimer's, watching other friends suffer from slight dementia has captured my interest to understand the disease.

Dementia is a big problem and growing every day. Ten percent of 65-year olds, 25 percent of 75-year olds, and 50 percent of 85-year olds will get Alzheimer's disease  at a cost of $60 billion a year to society. Worse, the number of people with Alzheimer's is predicted to triple in the next few decades. It is now the seventh leading cause of death.

From what I understood, genics, drugs and stress had an important role in memory loss and confusion.  Drugs play an important role in how we think, feel, react, and deal with emotions.

When we visit our physicians, the first thing they ask is "How do you feel?" If you answered you had a headache,  he would say "take this pill", if you cannot sleep, "take this pill", If you are tired, "take a pill." If you have anxieties, "take this pill"  and so on. The pharmaceutical companies are thriving.

Do we ever wonder why there are so many car accidents on the road?  How many times do you see direction signals of cars that were not supposed to be on.  Lights on cars during early evenings that were off.  People driving the wrong way and so on.  Approximately 80% of all of them are on medication for one reason or another.  Either too much or too little is the culprit.

Seniors all fear the aging process. Most believe it is genetic. But there is another way to think about brain aging. The brain responds to all the same insults as the rest of the body. Those are; stress, poor diet, toxins ingested or environmental,  lack of exercise or sleep, nutritional deficiencies, underactive thyroid, inflammation,  deficiencies of hormones, vitamins, and omega-3 fats.

From my research I have learned that all we have to do is give the brain a tune-up and we can see miracles says Dr. Mark Hyman, respected medical consultant, New York Times -bestselling author, lecturer, and practicing physician

This is the time when personalized medicine will replace medicine based on diagnosis and disease.

So if you know someone with memory loss, have a good qualified doctor look at all the imbalances that are present and how to fix them. Remember, there will be no one treatment that works for everyone, because everyone is different. But here are some things to think about if you or a loved one are experiencing memory loss or dementia. If all of the above fail, then x-ray, cat scans and other testing should be addressed. If your doctor talks you out of the above, go find another, or call Dr. Hyman. ( I have never met or spoken with him, just researched on Google)

• Pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome
Low thyroid function
• Depression
• Deficiencies in B vitamins, especially vitamin B12
• Omega-3 fat deficiencies
• Mercury or other heavy metal toxicity
• Vitamin D deficiency
• High cholesterol
• Unique genes that predispose you to nutritional
   or detoxification problems

Sometimes a subtle change in a persons health could explain reverse dementia. Once you identify the underlying causes of the imbalance, here are a few things that can help your mind get a tune-up:

1. Balance your blood sugar with a whole foods,
    low glycemic diet
2. Exercise daily -- even a 30-minute walk can help
3. Do yoga, deep breathing  exercises        
4. Take a multivitamin and mineral supplement
5. Take an omega-3 fat supplement
6. Take extra vitamin B6, B12, and folate
7. Take vitamin D

As we approach the New Year, we have a lot to look forward to. This is just a start, but it can go a long way to giving your brain the chance to heal and recover if you have memory problems. Even if you aren't suffering from cognitive decline, you should take these steps because they can help you prevent the aging of your brain and obtain lifelong health.

I want to wish our friends and families who celebrate Christmas, A Very Healthy and Joyful Holiday


EMAIL: iris@pushthewheel.com




If you wish to comment, please click on the underlined comment below this blog



6 comments:

Marlene said...

dear iris. my mom had dementia so i know about it first hand. i even have a journal that i wrote to keep me sane. if you need a daughters feedback, let me know. also, unrelated, i had another issue and i reached out to dr. hyman for advice and a recommendation, and was "shot down" by his non-caring staff.
do yourself a favor and keep your credibility and do not even mention him for help. they don't care. marlene bertman

Anonymous said...
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Iris Shapiro said...

Dear Marlene,

Thank you for your comment. I am always most appreciative to learn what others have to say about my blog topics.

I was sorry to learn about your experience with Dr. Hyman. Thank God, I put a parenthisis that I never spoke to him and only found him through my research.

I must admit, I too, tried to contact him through email and telephone calls, but neither have been answered thus far.

Perhaps the holidays were a good excuse, or the fact that Dr. Hyman has grown to such proportion that his audiance of patients cannot be attended too.

Dr. Hyman is on the right track though. Perhaps other readers can recommend good doctors who have the time and staff to help dementia patients before it is too late.

Please scroll down to add your comment. You will be doing a Mitzvah (good deed)

Iris

Andy said...

Hi Iris,

Though I have not supported a cure for ALZ the way u have, I do follow the drugs in development. I do understand that helping folks with ALZ is a great thing from a humanitarian standpoint; however, I am not as sure that it will benefit our country financially. I would be interested in seeing real numbers, that would include the cost of medicating everyone, who may have "early ALZ", plus the increased costs for social security as more people would arguably live longer, and let's not forget about medicare and medicaid. My best guess is that this will drive up medical costs, not drive them down. I also believe that as much as our gov may give lip service to driving down med care costs, the reality is they want them to rise, just as they want illegal immigrants here. Watch what they do, not what they say. They are all lying scumbags.

As for the results I have seen thus far, for future ALZ meds, it appears to me that America is gonna do what it does best...sell more snake oil to fools. It's the American way!!!


Happy New Year!!!


Andy

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