In a very small study of ten individuals with memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease, amnestic mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive impairment, nine of the ten individuals experienced subjective or objective improvement in their memories within three to six months of beginning a program. The remaining individual had late stage Alzheimer’s and did not improve. The study findings were published in the online edition of the journal Aging.
The comprehensive program used a 36-point program that included changes to the diet, brain stimulation, exercise, optimization of sleep, medications and supplements and other steps. One critical result of the study was that six of 10 patients either had quit their jobs or were struggling with their job and were able to resume work or improved their work after the program.
The researchers personalized the program to each individual patient and based it on extensive testing. The side effects of the program were an improved body mass index and improved health. However, the program was strenuous and most of the participants were unable to do all of the processes. Still, a follow up more than two years after the program found that the benefits continued to hold.
The results suggest the need for a larger trial to obtain results that are more specific as to the level of achievement that could be gained and how late in the loss of memory loss that a reversal is achievable and provide for more qualitative data (rather than the anecdotal currently presented) to either prove or disprove the trial.
A lot of drug manufacturers are hoping to be the first to come up with a miracle pill that will prevent or cure Alzheimer’s. If we knew that one thing was the reason for the disease, that might make sense. It’s far more likely that it will take a multi-pronged solution not dissimilar from this study. The study participants put processes in place to eat healthier, exercise more, get plenty of sleep, take better care of their teeth, reduce stress and bring their metabolic levels into some semblance of normalcy. Those are all things we are supposed to do any way and your physician should be an active member of your team to make it so. However, most physicians simply don’t have the time spend with each individual client to ensure that they are getting more than the cure for the top of the list disease you’ve got today. That’s one reason that hiring a concierge physician can be so beneficial. Not only can they take the time to help you shoot for much better health, they can help you understand the importance of good health and provide you with the tools to achieve it. If you would like a list of concierge physicians in your area, please contact our office.
