Group 1 Heroes
The Alzheimer’s Hub of Hope has four sections: Heroes, Highlights, Headlines and Helpers/Caregivers. This post is aligned to the Heroes section.
Dictionary.com defines hero as “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character”. All of the people who make the heroes list below meet this definition by providing resources, thought leadership or protocols that offer hope in preventing, reversing or treating the disease or by supporting caregivers. They are courageous since providing hope goes against the mainstream Alzheimer’s narrative that there is no hope and they are noble since their cause is noble.
Each hero was selected after a review of their books, podcasts, websites and webinars revealed positive go-forward approaches in addressing the disease. Highlights of these approaches and the numerous resources available from these heroes will be published in future posts.
There are eight individuals in the first group; six medical practitioners and two people that offer resources and support to the Alzheimer’s community. Once highlights from this group are posted a second group of heroes will be published.
Group 1 Heroes:
Debrah Kan is the Founder of BeingPatient.com a website and community for Alzheimer's & dementia patients & caregivers. From its website,
“Being Patient is an editorially independent news and community platform that aims to create clarity around complex health issues and be a trusted, accurate source of information for the people impacted by a disease.”
The important point here is that it is independent and looks at issues from various vantage points. It has articles, podcasts, talks and advice categorized by topics such as risk factors, research, brain health and genetics. This is an excellent resource and you are encouraged to check it out for yourself.
Dr. Nate Bergman is the Chief Scientific Wellness Officer at Kemper Cognitive Wellness and host of the Evolving Past Alzheimer’s podcast and website. Dr. Bergman completed his fellowship in geriatric medicine at Cleveland Clinic with emphasis on how to optimize the aging brain. Prior to joining the team at Kemper Cognitive Wellness, he co-developed the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine’s program for cognitive impairment. Per the Kemper Cognitive Wellness website:
Early intervention has yielded the most positive results in preventing and slowing cognitive decline. Understand your unique symptom drivers or risk factors with comprehensive root cause analysis, and receive a custom, personalized plan for intervention.
Dr. Bergman’s extensive assessment and personalized approach makes sense to me. It includes multiple hour long appointments, reviewing a detailed health history, a 100+ item blood panel, neurocognitive testing, brain mapping and more. His services also include a nutritionist, family coach and caregiver training. Kemper Cognitive Wellness touches all of the bases with their 360 degree approach.
Dr. Jay Lombard is a practicing Neurologist and co-founder of Genomind, a genetic based testing company devoted to improving the lives of patients with psychiatric and neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s. He previously held positions including Chief of Neurology at Westchester Square Medical center and Chief of Neurology at Bronx Lebanon Hospital.
Based on his years of treating patients, he theorizes that a path exists from the gut to the brain that transports pathogins that may lead to neurological problems. He is an advocate of controlling insulin and inflammation to prevent Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
Dr. Lombard is the author of the Brain Wellness Plan, Freedom from Disease, the Mind of God and other books and articles.
Dr. Richard Isaacson is a Harvard trained neurologist and is the Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine and is on the Medical and Scientific Development Team of the Alzheimer’s Universe.
Dr. Isaacson and his colleagues created free online lessons that provide the latest tips used to help reduce Alzheimer’s risk, delay onset of symptoms, and manage Alzheimer’s using a comprehensive approach. Topics include the Stages of AD, Diagnosis of AD, and ways to reduce risk via lifestyle changes like nutrition, and physical / cognitive activity.
Dr. Isaacson published several books including: the Alzheimer’s Prevention and Treatment Diet, Alzheimer’s Treatment Alzheimer’s Prevention, and Fighting Alzheimer’s and How to Keep Your Brain Healthy.
Dr. Marwan Sabbagh is a behavioral neurologist in the Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Program and a professor in the Department of Neurology at Barrow Neurological Institute. His previous experience includes being a director at Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Dr. Sabbagh is known for his 6-step program that reverses heart disease and helps prevent Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Sabbagh see a connection between heart and brain health that goes deeper than circulation and believes these overlaps can be treated together. He has developed a scorecard to quantify heart and brain health that can be used to assess a patients current situation and changes to it moving forward.
He has published several books including Strong Heart, Strong Mind, the Alzheimer’s Answer, and the Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook.
Teepa Snow is an educator and founder of Positive Approach to Care® (PAC) an organization that provides training, certification, services, and products that support the caregiving process. She is known for the ten positive approaches to caring skills that can improve the life of the care receiver and care giver. Per her website the PAC’s mission is:
Using our talents and abilities to develop awareness, knowledge, and skill with all people, that will transform what exists into a more positive dementia care culture.
Teepa is the host of the Dementia Care Partner Talkshow and has published many books and other materials including: Dementia Care Companion, Secrets, Lies, and Shame: A Caretaker's Guide to the Dark Side of Alzheimer's and Dementia and When Enough is Enough.
Dr. Dale Bredesen is a recognized expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and has extendsive experience as an educator and researcher. He has been the guest on many podcasts, TV shows and other media.
He is currently 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.
Maria Shriver’s quote from the Today Show demonstrates the hope that Dr. Bredesen provides:
“Alzheimer’s is a disease for which there is no cure. Dr. Bredesen’s experimental program gives me hope that there are actions we can all take to care for our brains and keep Alzheimer’s at bay.”
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. Mark Hyman is perhaps the most well known person on the Heroes list. Unlike the other heroes, he does not specialize in Alzheimer’s, dementia or brain health exclusively but is a practicing family physician that addresses his patient’s health needs from a functional medicine perspective.
He is an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of Functional Medicine. He is the Head of Strategy and Innovation of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, a fourteen-time New York Times bestselling author and host of the Doctor’s Farmacy podcast.
Dr. Hyman is a regular medical contributor on several television shows and networks, including CBS This Morning, Today, Good Morning America, The View, and CNN. He is also an advisor and guest co-host on The Dr. Oz Show.
The most recent Doctor’s Farmacy podcast, episode 660, is titled How to Heal the Brain and Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. He has also published a docuseries with over 150 hours of content that from the Broken Brain podcast.
Thank you for this post as Alzheimer’s can be prevented. You will be interested in taking a look at my husband’s writings. My mother-in-law has late onset Alzheimer’s, and when my husband found there was no treatment he turned to the scientific literature to find a way to help his mother. This was 12 years ago and he continues to read the scientific literature. He achieved his goal of helping his mother. I am now passionate about getting the information he learned to others. What he learned, shocked us, and also gave us hope. Aluminum is the primary cause of Alzheimer’s and the good news is drinking, silica rich mineral water removes aluminum from the body, including the brain. There are many mineral waters that have enough silica to remove aluminum. Here is a link to anecdotal information. You will also find at our website a list of things that contain aluminum as well as a list of silica waters that have enough silica to remove aluminum. My husbands name is Dennis N Crouse.https://prevent-alzheimers-autism-stroke.com/alzheimers/
I am a retired nurse, and my husband of 57 years was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I am looking for help, and this has given me hope.