Evolving Past Alzheimer's

We get many questions from listeners and people seeking Alzheimer's prevention and early intervention about the risks and benefits of hormone therapies, such as estrogen and progesterone.

Our guest this episode, Felice Gersh MD and co-authors recently published an article entitled:

Postmenopausal hormone therapy for cardiovascular health: the evolving data

In this episode we talk about:

• Hormone Therapy in this episode is referring to Estrogen (ie estradiol) and Progesterone.
• 4:29 We talk about the ideal forms to take
• 10:28 We discuss doses and the best way to monitor for safety and effectiveness according to the recent journal article.
• 15:55 - Hormone Therapy's potential benefits to heart and brain of Estrogen.
• 21:15 - How estrogen might help the natural process of inflammation that occurs in women's bodies after menopause.
• 40:28 - Why it might make more sense to start estrogen therapy earlier rather than later.
• 48:50 - Considerations for starting estrogen after age 60 or more than 10 years after menopause and how long it may take to see results.

In this episode, you'll meet the co-founders of Kemper House and Kemper Cognitive Wellness. Betty and Kristin Kemper talk about the ideas that inspired them to start:

1) Kemper House - a dedicated assisted living environment pushing the boundaries of what people thought was possible for Alzheimer's and dementia care

2) Kemper Cognitive Wellness - one of the nation's leading companies for Alzheimer's and dementia prevention, support, and services. We treat everything from brain fog and ADHD all the way through dementia

You'll also hear from Cheryl Freed, Vice President of Learning & Education at Kemper and family dementia coach at Kemper Cognitive Wellness on the principles that shape living well even with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or dementia.

Finally, we'll tell you about our latest project that we are so proud of - a course for Caregivers of someone with Alzheimer's or other dementia - called, Live Well with Dementia.

Learn more at:

Livewellwithdementia.com

Learn more about the work at Kemper:

Kemperwellness.com

kemperhouse.com

7:48 - What they learned when Kristen's father and Betty's husband ended up in the care of their organization

10:49 - The mission of Kemper Cognitive Wellness to catch cognitive decline early

13:13 - What it is like to work in the innovative environment of Kemper vs a traditional assisted living model

15:25 - What can you do when you recieve a diagnosis?

20:03 - What does success look like when someone is moving through the later stages of Dementia?

23:50 - What does success look like when a loved one is at the end of their life?

We have discussed, photobiomodulation in several past podcasts. It's essentially shining lights on the head in order to positively influence brain function. Growing research supports the use of photobiomodulation for Alzheimer's and other dementias.

In this episode, we review the hot off the press positive results of a recent clinical trial done by Dr. Berman's group at the Quiet Mind Foundation and his colleagues at the Texas A&M Dept. of Neurosurgery using 1068nm transcranial and intraocular photobiomodulation to treat early to mid-stage dementia. This was a randomized, double-blind placebo-control trial.

Several of the folks using this "light helmet" for 6 minutes, twice a day for 8 weeks had significant improvement in memory and cognition.

Dr. Berman recounts his experiences and talks about where similar devices to the one used in this trial can be obtained.

In This Episode

2:24 - What is photo-bio-modulation?

6:11 - The clinical trial Marvin just completed on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients and what the results taught them about the laser treatments

16:43 - How does this intervention fit into the current dementia-care model? Does it slow the progression of the disease? Does it help increase the number of good days?

19:03 - The importance of functional medicine elements in the treatment of dementia and use of photo-bio-modulation

21:03 - Is this device commercially available? And how much does it cost?

Links

Quiet Mind Foundation

Joette Calabrese, an international homeopathic consultant, author, educator, and sought-after speaker who teaches around the world. As a physician, I admit that I have some skepticism towards homeopathy, but when it comes to Alzheimer's and Dementia, I am open to anything that works as long as it's safe.

In this interview, we talk about what homeopathy is, the safeness and effectiveness of homeopathic treatments, and how you can use homeopathic remedies if you are a caregiver of someone with dementia to benefit yourself and your loved one.

1:11 - "Homeopathy shines in areas where there are no solutions, and modern medicine leaves us great big gaping holes for us to fill." - Joette Calabrese

3:34 - What is Homeopathy and when is it useful?

8:35 - Are homeopathic treatments a placebo effect?

15:06 - What are the side effects to homeopathic treatments?

17:36 - Homeopathic remedies Joette used to help her mother with dementia

22:11 - How could homeopathy slow the progression of Alzheimer's

28:56 - "I've been doing this for over 34 years and I am still amazed." - Joette Calabrese

29:19 - Can you get started with homeopathy yourself, or do you have to see an expert?

44:05 - How long does it take to see improvements with homeopathic treatments?

46:50 - How you can use homeopathy to support your own health if you are in the position of being someone else's caregiver

Find Joette Online

James O'Keefe is the director of preventative cardiology at St Louis Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City and a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri. Dr O'Keefe taught me that checking your blood sugar right after you eat is really important. And even healthy people may see a huge spike in their blood sugar right after they eat. Many different chronic diseases are linked to problems with blood sugar. Dr. O'Keefe recently published a paper on the pesco-Mediterranean diet as the ideal way to eat for heart, brain, and overall health.

5:12 - Advantages of the Pesco-Mediterranean diet for preventing cardiovascular problems

12:33 - Dr. O'Keefe's perspective on the ketogenic diet

16:38 - How dairy can cause inflammation

23:25 - "Erectile dysfunction is the canary in the coal mine. It is an early warning system of trouble with lifestyle."

24:09 - How to test endothelial function and measure lifestyle changes that need to be made before real problems manifest

29:51 - Exercise for brain function and Alzheimer's prevention

46:50 - Is fish oil good for your health?

Part 2 of the conversation with Francisco Gonzalez-Lima. We are talking about Methylene Blue as a potential therapy for Alzheimer's. This is something that you can access yourself with the proper research needed to obtain a pharmaceutical grade. We talk about its potential as a therapy for early intervention and prevention of Alzheimer's.

Part 1 of this interview was released two weeks ago, where we talk about brain bioenergetics and laser treatments as a therapy for Alzheimer's.

0:30 - The "magical properties" of Methylene Blue

10:44 - What do people feel like on Methylene Blue?

25:40 - Benefits of Methylene Blue for early intervention and prevention of Alzheimer's

35:47 - Why it is so difficult to find Methylene Blue. Is it poisonous?

This is a super technical episode. The guest is a world leader in brain energy and its impact on cognition and cognitive change that leads to Alzheimer's. We had to break this episode into two parts.

The difference between early-onset Alzheimer's (which is usually genetic) and late-onset Alzheimer's that usually happens after age 65.

Dr. Gonzalez-Lima argues that there is a common pathway, a problem with the way the brain produces energy, which leads to late-onset Alzheimer's. The causes of this can be multiple, and the major one is simply getting older.

So as individuals, we have to lead healthy lifestyles to push back on these changes.

The earliest changes in the brain are different than are commonly understood. They are changes in the way the brain metabolizes energy. These changes show up long before the common atrophies we see in Alzheimer's patients.

Many of the factors that lead to the development of Alzheimer's are vascular. Test that may help catch Alzheimer's before cognitive symptoms…

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Test (CIMT)

EEG or QEG - brain maps

Genetics, head injuries, and brain trauma are other factors that can lead to Alzheimer's. There are also some infections and viruses that can be associated with the development of the disease. Environmental toxins are a new cause that is being accepted worldwide by even the most conservative organizations.

We finish by talking about mitochondria therapy, a low-level laser therapy, where photons are shot into the brain's photon acceptors. It essentially makes more space, making the cells more likely to bind and use oxygen. The main risk with this laser is the need to protect the eyes.

Ultimately, the hope is that this treatment can be done with LED lights, and people can do it themselves.

The ketogenic diet can help repair even a damaged brain. We have seen a number of people improve through adopting this diet, even though it can be difficult to sustain, and I don't recommend sustaining it for long. That conversation will lead us into part 2 which will be released in two weeks.

12:17 - Fundamental problems in the brain and nervous system that are leading to diseases like Alzheimer's

21:05 - Why are some brains more vulnerable than others to Alzheimer's?

38:48 - A practical way to assess cerebral brain flow

40:02 - Laser light treatment to help with brain flow

1:09:39 - The ketogenic diet and its potential to help with improving cognition

Dr. Dale Bredesen is a neuroscientist of the first order as well as a truly pioneering doctor in the fields of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research. In 2014, Dr. Bredesen published a widely publicized case series of 10 people who improved from cognitive decline. He has gone on to teach thousands of practitioners his methodology. At the time of recording this episode, there is a clinical trial well underway testing his methodology. Dr. Bredesen is the author of numerous scientific papers as well as the author of New York Times bestseller, The End of Alzheimer's. Most importantly, Dr. Bredesen's work brings hope and potential solutions for those struggling with Alzheimer's and other forms of cognitive decline.

In This Episode

• "The field has argued that some drug is going to be out there that will work, and they haven't. So we wanted to start from ground zero."
• The root cause of Alzheimer's
• Subjective cognitive impairment vs mild cognitive impairment
• Factors that determine if you can reverse cognitive decline and how much you can improve
• "Chronic illnesses like Alzheimer's are working against the physician because they are keeping people from coming to you for years."
• How long the results hold after cognitive improvement and what you can do to retain the results
• The "pandemic within the pandemic", how COVID-19 and Alzheimer's are connected
• "The Five Personalities", sub-types of Alzheimer's
• "We should never follow Alzheimer's with a period. Alzheimer's due to what?"
• What is the ketoflex diet, and why ketone energy is so important in Alzheimer's and cognition?
• What is detoxification, and how does it play into Alzheimer's treatment?
• The role of psychotherapy in Alzheimer's prevention and how to deal with apathy during treatment

Links

The End of Alzheimer's

Read Dale's Publications

Evolving Past Alzheimer's

The field of preventive neurology is coming. Detection of early brain damage is critical and our guest this episode, Darmiyan appears to have developed this technology.

This interview is with Darmiyan's co-founder, Kaveh Vejdani MD, currently serving as it's chief medical and technology officer.

A highly technical, but potentially game-changing episode. Darmiyan is a medical image processing company currently focused on applying ai technology for early detection of neurodegenerative brain conditions like Alzheimer's. Changes in the brain early on lead to Alzheimer's before symptoms develop. If we can learn to detect these changes before symptoms manifest, then there is more opportunity for prevention.

In This Episode:

• 1:04 - What the technology is and what it can see
• 5:18 - Discoveries they have made about early Alzheimer's prevention and how the test works
• 12:04 - "This is one of the tests that is going to change the course of action."
• 14:04 - The accuracy you can expect from the test
• 17:10 - The criteria for diagnosis with the test
• 20:22 - What is on the horizon for Darmiyan?
• 21:50 - "If you wait for the person to be close to dementia that it's visible on the MRI, that is too late for treatment actions."
• 27:26 - Interventions that can improve results after early detection
• 29:24 - When this technology will be more widely available to people who want to detect degenerative diseases before they have symptoms

Links

Darmiyan's Website

In Feb 2018 Michele Mootz started the CrossFit Wellness Program focused on bringing CrossFit to populations that were not being addressed including those with serious chronic diseases as well as aging adults over 65 including those with cognitive impairment. We discuss the tremendous benefits they have seen to date. We also discuss the impact COVID has had on this program and the overall health of this community of individuals.

Michele Mootz was a Physical Therapist for 13 years before starting work with CrossFit. She is currently the Program Director for CrossFit Wellness as well as a Flowmaster for CrossFit Training Department.

In This Episode:

• 1:23 - What is Crossfit?
• 2:29 - Michele's journey from working as a physical therapist to CrossFit
• 9:45 - "The recipe to try to get our patients healthier doesn't change, we are just paying closer attention to more high-risk factors they walk in with." - Michele Mootz
• 11:12 - Results Michele has seen with the members of her gym
• 14:18 - "The foundation of CrossFit has always been that the movements are functional movements." - Michele Mootz
• 17:03 - How CrossFit can improve areas of your life outside of just physical fitness
• 21:33 - "One of the mistakes that have been made by me and other CrossFit gyms is trying to integrate everyone into one class." - Michele Mootz
• 22:54 - How likely is an injury in Crossfit?
• 27:23 - What the senior CrossFit classes look like
• 29:57 - How long it takes to see the results of CrossFit

To inquire about a local class or to join CrossFit's zoom offering:

[email protected] OR

[email protected]

The zoom class discussed in this episode occurs at 9am Pacific time.