3 Natural Alzheimer’s Treatments

Alzheimer’s is perhaps the scariest disease out there. Losing your mental faculties and sense of self is, for many people, much worse than losing physical skills or abilities with age. That’s why a new treatment, discovered at the University of Pennsylvania, is so exciting. It promises to improve memory—not just in Alzheimer’s patients, but potentially in everyone. By applying electrical stimulus to the right parts of the brain at the right time, memory improved—in everyone. The first applications are likely to be in people who have suffered brain injuries, and Alzheimer’s patients.

However, it’ll be a little while before this treatment is widely available to the general public. In the meantime, there are a number of different treatment options that, when combined together, can make a big difference in brain function and quality of life. It’s always worth trying the easiest changes first. And that’s more important now than ever—because, unfortunately, dementia is on the rise, and showing up earlier than ever.

Early Onset Dementia: A Clue to Bigger Problems

Over the past twenty years, dementia has become a larger problem. And it’s not just because people are living longer. It’s true that death rates from dementia, for those over 75, have just about doubled.

But it’s also true that early onset dementia is becoming a much larger issue. Two decades ago, early onset might show up in someone’s early 60s.

Today, it is showing up in folks in their 40s, or even occasionally in their 30s.

As you can probably guess, the brain hasn’t changed a lot in the past 20 years. So what’s to blame for this gross increase?

Believe it or not, research points to pollution being the biggest culprit.

There may be other factors, but they are almost certainly environmental in nature.

That’s making dementia and Alzheimer’s more pronounced and more prevalent.

It’s bringing brain problems on at younger and younger ages.

But it also points to your first step, when confronted with dementia.

Memory Supporter #1: Detoxify Your Body

Not long ago, I treated a patient who came in with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. It had been spotted in an MRI, and this 72 year old man’s doctors were recommending a highly aggressive, highly experimental stem cell treatment.

I wanted to start with something simpler first. Especially since a stem cell treatment won’t work in a body already troubled with disease and toxicity. You have to start with the underlying problems first.

I gave him a blood screening and checked for toxins—this should always be the first step when dealing with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

It turns out, he had a number of toxins in his blood—especially mercury. His readings for mercury were through the roof!

There’s a lot of mercury in the air these days, thanks to pollution. Most of us are able to process all that mercury and excrete it, through sweat or waste.

But some people aren’t as good at processing mercury. My patient was one of those people—so he had more than enough mercury to interfere with his brain functions.

I helped him detoxify his body, mostly through things like infrared sauna treatments and chelation therapy, while cleaning up his diet. Fermented foods can help your digestive tract process heavy metals as well.

Some folks also swear by binding agents, like DMSA. You can take 100-250 mg three times a day, before meals, for three days. Then take 11 days off.

Continue that same process for six months. When you go in to check your levels, you should see greatly reduced mercury.

But only use this method if others aren’t doing the job. Helping your digestive tract do its work, and encouraging sweat a few times a week in a sauna, should do the trick for most people.

For my patient, I didn’t stop there of course. I put him on a ketogenic diet, very low in carbs. I gave him a number of other supplements, which I’ll detail below.

The important thing is, within just a few weeks, my patient came back saying he felt 80% better. Without going through any extensive treatments—just cleaning his body of toxins, and improving his nutritional intake.

If you or someone you know is suffering from dementia, this should be your first step. Get tested for toxins, heavy metals and nutritional deficiencies. Clean your body first, and go from there.

Memory Supporter #2: DMAE For Neurotransmitter Help

In most cases of dementia or Alzheimer’s, in addition to problems with neurons and synapses, there are often issues with neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that help carry signals, from nerve cell to nerve cell, throughout the brain.

And production of one neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, is believed to be helped by DMAE. Acetylcholine production drops off for everyone as you age, and is the cause of some senior moments. But it is depleted by as much as 90% in Alzheimer’s patients and is a promising avenue for treatment.

But DMAE helps in other ways as well.

It appears to protect neurons themselves. And it actively fights the amyloid plaques that build up on the brain – thought to be a major component of Alzheimer’s.

DMAE is considered a good supplement for overall brain health. But it’s especially powerful for fighting Alzheimer’s.

It was one of the supplements I gave my recent patient—and something I tell all my patients fighting dementia to take.  You should take at least 400 mg daily, though some studies have used doses as high as 1,800 mg, without showing ill effects.

Memory Supporter #3: NAD IV

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide—or NAD—is present in every cell in your body. It’s an essential chemical used by your cells to produce energy.

And, in addition to being responsible for energy levels, it’s a crucial part of creating a number of neurotransmitters, like serotonin.

NAD production naturally declines with age. And we are learning that there’s a direct connection between a decline in NAD and dementia.

Drug addicts often show large decreases in NAD. And, when given an intravenous (IV) NAD treatment, those same addicts report that the “fog” they live in almost immediately lifts.

I’ve seen the same thing in my patients with dementia.

Although NAD has recently began showing up in supplements, the best way to get an NAD treatment is through IV, so you’ll need to discuss this with your doctor, or another healthcare provider.

But if you’re fighting dementia or Alzheimer’s, NAD is one of the most powerful tools in our current arsenal.

Again, there are no magic bullets out there. But we’ve got a lot of small helps, like NAD, DMAE, and of course, detoxification.

When you combine them all, you’ll be shocked what a difference they can make.

References

• Hamilton, Jon. Electrical Stimulation To Boost Memory: Maybe It’s All In The Timing. NPR. Published Apr 20, 2017. Accessed Jun 9, 2017.
• Rouse, Alicia. Rise of patients in 40s suffering from dementia: Researchers warn of ‘silent epidemic’ of early onset disease. Daily Mail. Published Aug 5, 2015. Accessed Jun 11, 2017.
• Staff. The little known wellness secret: NAD+ Therapy. The Coast News. Published Apr 20, 2017. Accessed Jun 11, 2017.
• Staff. Summary: DMAE. Examine. Accessed Jun 11, 2017.
• Staff. DMAE. Therapy. Published Aug 2013. Accessed Jun 11, 2017.
• Hyman, Mark. How To Rid Your Body Of Mercury And Other Heavy Metals: A 3-Step Plan To Recover Your Health. Huffington Post. Published Nov 17, 2011. Accessed Jun 11, 2017.