Dr. Dale Bredesen and the Functional Approach - Episode 1
The Alzheimer’s Hub of Hope has four sections: Heroes, Highlights, Headlines and Helpers/Caregivers. This post is aligned to the Highlights section.
Would you believe it if you were told that Alzheimers and pre-Alzheimers can be reversed for virtually everybody?
Would you believe it if you were told that there is a protocol that reverses Alzheimers in 84% of the people diagnosed with the diseased and they remain disease free?
Would you believe it if cognitive scores can improve and brain gray matter increase?
Would you believe it if Alzheimers can be prevented?
All this and more is discussed in Dr. Mark Hyman’s interview with Dr. Dale Bredesen. The podcast is near the bottom of the page of the link below.
https://drhyman.com/blog/2021/12/15/podcast-ep462/
Surviving Alzheimer’s: A Functional Medicine Approach To Prevention And Reversal with Dr. Dale Bredesen
Dr. Dale Bredesen is one of the Heroes of the Alzheimers Hub of Hope and is a recognized expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and has extensive experience as an educator and researcher. He is the Chief Science Officer of Apollo Health, which is at the forefront of research into Alzheimer’s disease prevention and memory-loss reversal. His research teams have made discoveries that changed our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease’s fundamental nature leading to revolutionary treatments. His PreCode and ReCode protocols may be useful in preventing and reversing Alzheimer’s. Dr. Bredesen’s books include the End of Alzheimer’s Program, the First Survivor's of Alzheimer’s, and The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline.
Dr. Bredesen uses a functional medicine approach to address disease. The Institute for Functional Medicine defines it as:
“Functional medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.”
I encourage you to listen to the entire one hour and 15 minute interview and to check out Dr. Bredesen’s resources. Clearly his research and practice with patients provide hope for those worried about the disease.
I’ve summarized the highlights of the interview below.
Causes of Alzheimers
It is a complex chronic illness that isn’t caused by one thing and, therefore, won’t be cured by one thing
It is not a brain disease but a whole body disease. Anything that impacts the body may impact the brain. A healthy body will result in a healthy brain and prevent Alzheimers
It is a multi system disorder, there may be 36 or more disease drivers, referred to as insults to the brain
Each driver is attacking the brain and plaques and amyloid are created as a defense mechanism to protect the brain (similar to a scab). These attacks also cause the brain to physically get smaller
The plaques and amyloid are the result of the disease and not the cause; removing them will put the brain at risk. This challenges the current orthodoxy of understanding and treating the disease
Insulin resistance, inflammation, toxins, mold, herpes and trophic factors are some of the causes of the disease. For example, the bacteria present in a mouth due to poor dental hygiene may trigger inflammation in the brain which will respond by making amyloid for protection
Insulin resistance, which is very much related to diabetes, is a major driver and the reason that Alzheimers is often called type 3 diabetes but it is more complicated than that
Tropic factors, such as the lack of proper nutrition, play a role but it is important to realize it is one of many factors and treatment isn’t as simple as tacking vitamins
Approach/Protocol
The approach is to remove the items that attack the brain resulting in plaques and amyloid being created and not to address the plaques and amyloid directly
Alzheimers is the perfect disease to be treated with functional medicine since it is root caused based and not symptom based. There may be many root causes for a specific patient
Functional medicine uses a systems approach that includes many tests and assessments to determine the specific root cause(s) and out-of-balance conditions for a patient
After the root cause(s) is identified, a personalized approach (plan-of-attack) is created. It isn’t one size fits all. This is called precision medicine
The personalized plan-of-attack may include addressing infections, hormone imbalances, nutrition, sleep, insulin resistance or many other items
The approach can be done before symptoms exist to prevent the disease
Nutrition improvements is often needed to get energy to the brain and improve synapse functioning
Autophagy and fasting is critical as they recycle damaged brain components. It is like getting rid of old batteries. Twelve to 16 hours of fasting during the night is recommended
The ketoflex eating regimen is helpful in burning ketones which the brain loves. This involves fasting for a minimum of twelve hours per day and not eating three hours before bed
Being in mild ketosis is good for the brain and the brain needs good protein from eggs, meat and fish
It is necessary to get oxygen to the brain so exercise that gets the blood flowing is important
Often low hormones will cause people to sleep poorly which may result in low oxygen in their blood which negatively impacts the brain. It is recommended that people with poor sleep use an inexpensive oximeter to assess their oxygen levels during the night
Stress causes high cortisol levels which correlates with small brains so it is important to reduce stress through meditation or some other way
Dr. Bredesen’s detailed approach for prevention (PreCode) and reversal (Recode) are available at Apollo Health
Next Steps/Maturing the Program
The approach is less effective during very late stages of the disease where the patient has a cognitive score of near zero. Additional research is being performed to improve the approach for this stage
Health coaches can help clients adhere to the approach / protocol
Many doctors that treat brain diseases are neurologist and don’t have the training to treat the “below the neck” causes of Alzheimers
Apollo Health has built a platform to guide doctors in implementing the approach that uses a computer based algorithm with 150 variables that help physicians identify specific root cause(s) and develop a patient precision plan going-forward
2,000 doctors have been trained in Dr. Bredesen’s protocols
Everybody 45 years old or older should create a baseline of their brain health often called a cognoscopy that includes a cognitive assessment, blood tests and an MRI for brain volume metrics. Dr. Bredesen’s cognoscopy tool is found here.
The First Survivors of Alzheimer's: How Patients Recovered Life and Hope in Their Own Words Book
The book provides details on Dr. Bredesen’s protocols and how to work with your doctor to implement them
It documents the real life stories of seven people that recovered using Dr. Bredesen’s approach
One patient improved her cognitive score from the 35 percentile to the 98th and another went from a MOCHA cognitive score of 24 to a perfect score which has lasted over five years
During the book discussion, Dr. Hyman spoke to how he has been successful treating Alzheimers patients using a basic functional medicine approach of assessing many variables and getting the body back to health. This is of interest because his practice does not focus on the brain. He is not a neurologist and it brings credence to Alzheimers being a disease of the body and not the brain.
Practitioners and health coaches trained in Dr. Bredesen’s protocols can be found here. I recommend anybody worried about growing old with Alzheimers to investigate Dr. Bredesen’s research and resources and determine if it is for them. His protocols are not a silver bullet. It isn’t like taking a pill everyday. The complexity of the protocols may make it difficult for some people to understand or adhere too. Apollo Health recommends health coaches to assist patients with implementation.