Dr. Heather Sandison - Reversing Alzheimer's Research and Book
The Alzheimer’s Hub of Hope has four sections: Heroes, Highlights, Headlines and Helpers/Caregivers. This post is aligned to the headlines section.
I have a son living in San Diego so I periodically google the city to keep up with its news and current events. By chance I came across Marama, a San Diego residential memory care facility that uses Dr. Dale Bredesen’s functional approach in treating AD. You may remember Dr. Bredesen is one of my Alzheimer’s Heroes of Hope that I posted about here.
As I went down the rabbit hole researching Marama, I discovered it was founded by Dr. Heather Sandison who also:
Founded Solcere, a clinic using an integrated approach to brain health
Hosted the week long Reversing Alzheimer’s Summit which featured over 40 experts in the field
Authored the recently published Reversing Alzheimer’s book
Performed the research and authored the article “Observed Improvement in Cognition During a Personalized Lifestyle Intervention in People with Cognitive Decline” published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in August of 2023
It is interesting to me that I haven’t come across Dr. Sandison during almost two years of researching AD. She clearly is a major player in the field.
This post will summarize her research and book and a future post will be dedicated to Marama, her residential memory care facility. For those who would rather listen than read, I’ve included three video interviews with Dr. Sandison.
Observed Improvement in Cognition During Lifestyle Intervention
Dr. Sandison’s proof-of-concept used a multimodal intervention approach which looked at concentration, memory, reasoning and verbal ability and concluded that ~74% of participants improved in some areas and more than 50% improved in each of the four domains studied as follows.
Concentration improved in 54.6% of participants
Memory improved in 81.8% of participants
Reasoning improved in 63.6% of participants
Verbal Ability improved in 68.2% of participants
The intervention was clearly successful. Also, 26% of participants declined in cognition which is the expected natural course of disease progression.
The important point here, that can’t be overstated, is that suffers improved their cognition as determined by standard cognitive tests. It wasn’t static; it improved which is considered impossible by most practitioners.
The six month proof-of-concept implemented a complex, multimodal, individualized care plan in a sample of people with cognitive decline. The approach included stress management, movement, health coaching, diet (ketogenic, supplements (vitamin D, omega 3’s), sleep treatments, hormone treatments, infection treatments and inflammation treatments.
The entire 12-page research is available here.
Reversing Alzheimer's: The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health
Dr. Sandison’s book can be purchased from Amazon here. The book has 12 chapters and provides an overview of the AD problem and the approach she uses in her clinic and residential facility. The chapters are:
The Truth About Brain Health
How Have We Gotten It So Wrong?
Unpack the New Alzheimer’s Toolkit
Setting the Stage with a Doable Plan
Getting Organized with Daily Routines
Move the Body to Strengthen the Mind
Feed the Brain
Foster Cognition with Activities
Create a Brain-Nourishing Environment
Care for the Care-Giver
Partner with Your Provider
A Glimpse into the Near Future
On Amazon, the hardcopy of the book is $25 but the Kindle version is $2.99 so it is very affordable. I’m not sure I would define it as a self-help book but it written in such a way so that a person can move from theory to practice.
Per her video’s much of her approach can be done with little cost (e.g. sleep, walking) and she would expect many benefits from these activities.
What I found most interesting is her insistence that a three to six month ketogenic diet is very valuable to stop or prevent cognitive decline. AD often is a brain energy issue which can be improved (reset) by the brain using ketones as its fuel source. After six months she recommends cycling through ketosis perhaps one month a quarter as part of prevention and/or maintenance. I posted on brain energy here.
This post is not meant to diminish or denigrate the validity of Dr. Sandison’s work.
I have not YET read it.
BUT… It *appears* to ignore the single most important issue… WHAT CAUSES ALZHEIMER’S?
This is important because… prior to 1906… when Dr. Alzheimer found post mortem *plaques and tangles* in the brain of a *deceased* dementia patient… this “disease” DID NOT EXIST.
WHY NOT?
Would it not make sense to spend both time and money analyzing
what *causes* Alzheimer’s?
BTW… I am not a caregiver nor a friend nor relative of someone afflicted with Alzheimer’s.
I am an MD-diagnosed *former* Alzheimer’s patient.