WE DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT! (Part Thirteen)

My father was diagnosed with dementia with Lewy Bodies during 'lockdown' in 2021. We were informed by his doctor of the untreatable deterioration he could expect after about a year on the only available medication. This kind, dignified man might, among all the other horrors, end up incontinent, and become unable to swallow ...

My horror and sorrow at this prospect impelled me to go home and research this disease. Surely there was something we could do that might stop or at least slow its progression?

Here is what I found!

NUTRITION AND LIFESTYLE CHANGE AS MEDICINE

Pioneering scientists and nutritionists (many in the field of Functional Medicine, like Dr Dale Bredesen, below) are discovering that degenerative diseases (like dementia and Parkinson’s) are likely to be, in fact, metabolic illnesses, with many explorable and effective routes (one being diet) to address and alleviate the root causes and thus the symptoms.

Nutritionist Amy Berger MS CNS NTP has written a book called 'The Alzheimer's Antidote: Using a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet to Fight Alzheimer's Disease, Memory Loss and Cognitive Decline'. (Chelsea Green Publishing, March 2017) (buy here)

"Amy Berger’s research shows that Alzheimer’s results from a fuel shortage in the brain: As neurons become unable to harness energy from glucose, they atrophy and die, leading to classic symptoms like memory loss and behavioural changes .... The Alzheimer’s Antidote shows us that cognitive decline is not inevitable, but if it does occur, we don’t have to sit idly by and wait helplessly while it progresses and worsens. Amy Berger empowers loved ones and caregivers of Alzheimer’s sufferers, and offers hope and light against this otherwise unnavigable labyrinth of darkness." (publisher)

Here Amy Berger talks to Ken Berry about her book and her research:

(watch here)

A simple summary is that a low-carbohydrate, high-fat (keto) diet encourages the liver to produce ketones, which the brain can utilise as an alternative fuel to glucose (which the brain cannot use). At the same time, inflammation caused by high-blood sugar and the resultant insulin-resistance (and which is seen as instrumental in causing metabolic disease such as dementia and Parkinson's) is reduced when following this dietary programme.

For those who cannot convert to a ketogenic diet, exogenous ketones, via coconut oil and MCT oil, can bring temporary improvement in cognitive function. Dr Mary Newport helped her husband, and since then many others, with the addition of coconut oil to his diet (watch here).

In light of all this, our family are exploring an initial path of nutritional adjustment, all the while ensuring that, whether his dementia can be reversed or stabilised or not, my father’s overall health will be as good as it can possibly be.

Confirming what we had learnt with a nutritionist, we are now balancing meals of fatty meat and non-starchy vegetables with oily fish. I've invented a hearty Bisque soup so that these oily fish are more palatable for him. Flour-based pasta and pizza are out. I have taken intense pleasure in making gravies and sauces with nothing artificial whatsoever!

Reducing the sugar and flour-based cakes and biscuits he is addicted to is difficult, but is working to an extent. And, oh my gosh, the chocolate mousses (and truffles) we have been making for him with organic cacao powder, egg yolk, and double cream or coconut oil, with a small amount of prunes or blueberries for a little sweetness ... are divine!

PROTON PUMP INHIBITORS: A WARNING!

OSTEOPOROSIS AND DEMENTIA

My father had already been diagnosed with osteoporosis in early 2020, and I believe it is possible that this, and his dementia, may have been caused by the over-prescription of Omeprazole. Omeprazole belongs to a class of drug called Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs), prescribed for those with reflux/stomach/digestion problems. This type of drug literally inhibits the production of stomach acid. Reduced stomach acid compromises the absorption of vital nutrients.

My father was prescribed this PPI following a stomach ulcer procedure. It was, as far as I can gather, seen as a preventative measure. Its use should have been reviewed after a period of weeks. He continued taking it for years. It is possible, then, that as a result of this he is in fact suffering from the effects of nutritional deficiencies.

Vitally essential nutrients may have been lacking for those important years.

Vitamin B12.

A US nurse, Sally Pacholok, wrote a book, Could it be B12? (Linden Publishing, 2011). Her hospital experience showed that a vitamin B12 deficiency can cause (and/or 'mimic') the symptoms of many conditions, including dementia and osteoporosis. She explained that one cause of B12 deficiency is indeed the over-prescription of PPIs.

Buy here

A feature-length film, based on the book, was made (watch here).

This was certainly food for thought! There surely could be nothing lost in checking for such a deficiency? A nutritionist we consulted agreed that, among other incredibly important vitamins and minerals, a supplement of Vitamin B12 might go towards replacing its possible loss, thereby enabling my father's system to take advantage of it if it still can.

On top of this we are seeking to add to my father’s diet powerfully nutritious foods such as home-made bone broth, which will add collagen and minerals to his system and therefore maybe alleviate to some extent his osteoporosis. There are new-ish supplements called collagen peptides which, whilst expensive, can be added to the diet to bring some improvement to bone density.

She has introduced a gut-health protocol to address his life-long constipation. She has explained the foundational importance of the gut microbiome, and how 'leaky gut' can result in toxins entering the bloodstream and creating havoc in organs around the body, including the brain. The GAPS diet is a good one to explore https://draxe.com/nutrition/gaps-diet-plan-protocol/!

MY CONCLUSION: EARLY PREVENTION!

There are up to thirty or more factors which may contribute to the development of dementias according to Dr Bredesen, nutrition being but one. These include environmental factors such as mould and heavy metals, and well as stress and problematic sleep. Realistically it may be hard, in my father's case, to test for and cover all these of factors.

It may be too late to make much or any difference to either of my father's conditions. But we are going to give it a good old go and at least try to adjust the one thing we do have control over: diet.

Too late for us or not, though, the more information we all have at our disposal to help us re-think and explore our own and our families' dietary and lifestyle choices in life, the better. With knowledge we will be able to stave off conditions and diseases that we have until now believed were unavoidable!

I believe passionately in prevention, hard though it sometimes is to break lifetime habits and (let's be frank) overcome quite strong cognitive dissonance in ourselves.

TIME WILL TELL

Time will tell whether any of the measures we can take will stabilise or bring improvement to my father's two conditions. It is, though, nearly two years since the dementia medication was prescribed, and his condition has remained remarkably stable. Fingers crossed!

His general health will in any case be enhanced by eliminating processed foods and toxically inflammatory 'vegetable' oils, reducing intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates, and by re-introducing fresh and brain-healthy foods to his diet.

I urge, with all my heart, any family with a parent or family member diagnosed with dementia (or, indeed, any other neurological disease) to, as a first step, pay privately to test for B12 serum levels. The NHS don't, I gather, offer the serum level test. Get homocysteine levels tested too. High levels demonstrate deficiencies in B12 and other B vitamins.

Question and research all current medication and their side effects.

And then go all out to address any other deficiencies, research the GAPS diet and, on top of that, start cooking up a storm!

< previous post next post >