Alzheimer's: Why is the Brain Deteriorating?
Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.
After considerable research it is interesting to bring you up to speed on documented evidence of things which answer the question. "Why is the human brain deteriorating faster than the rest of the body?”
There are a multitude of factors and today's article will touch on a few and also provide some solutions.
For starters I find it disturbing and somewhat criminal that a common blood pressure medication called calcium channel blockers has been proven radiologically on MRI to cause brain shrinking. Research has shown that these drugs cause deterioration of the I.Q. within 5 years' use.
Another medication used to lower cholesterol called Lipitor causes a decline in brain function. It is important to know that statin cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor poison the liver's synthesis of cholesterol. This in turn will starve the brain of cholesterol needed to repair the brain, renew worn out membranes, and stave off Alzheimer's.
In fact, an excellent book, “Lipitor Thief of Memory” written by the respected medical doctor, former astronaut, aerospace medical research scientist, flight surgeon, and family doctor, Dr. Duane Graveline, shares his rapid mental decline after taking the drug Lipitor. Worth reading.
Even with all this hard evidence can you believe the pharmaceutical industry has created a potent drug which combines both the calcium channel blocker and a statin called Atorvastatin/Amlodipine (Caduet). Talk about a double punch to optimal brain function!
Moving on to another documented contributor of Alzheimer's, we can't forget the unavoidable heavy metals. We all have them in us and they poison brain repair enzymes, leading to Alzheimer's.
For example, there is no one who doesn't have aluminum in them, from eating out, aluminum cookware, aluminum flocculation agents in municipal drinking waters, aluminum in baking powders used in breads, processed and restaurant foods cooked in aluminum vats, industrial and vehicular exhausts, deodorants, antacids, and many other sources.
Aluminum causes the nerves in the brain to actually get tangled up (neurofibrillary tangles) as well as make a glue-like substance (called amyloid) to gum up the normal workings of the delicate brain electricity..
Now to provide some nutritional answers to reduce amyloid production we need to look no further than Phosphatidylserine (PS). This nutritional powerhouse has shown to perk up memory, and stave off Alzheimer's. One interested case showed PS in 3 months return the memory back to where it was 12 years earlier.
Most recently there has been evidence how DHA is an amyloid eater.
Well here is something even easier: green tea. Real organic green tea has over 3 catechins or polyphenols. They have been found to be potent preventers of amyloid deposition in the brain. Sencha Premium Organic Green Tea is by far the best I have found.
This short article is simply a glimpse of the research you won't see promoted on CNN or Fox News. Of course this is sad. There is another side of the clinical management of many diseases that the public will rarely if ever be shown unless you are a reader of my weekly health reports or other alternative or functionally oriented heath professional reports or journals.
The take away from today's article is to “NOT” be your own doctor but seek out the assistance and help from someone trained and skilled in functional medicine who can properly evaluate you and outline a personalized program to help you get well.
To find a healthcare professional certified in functional medicine, go to www.FunctionalMedicineDoctors.com.These are clinicians who have been trained at Functional Medicine University (www.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.com)
COMPLIMENTS OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE UNIVERSITY
Reference
Haque A, et al, Green tea catechins prevent cognitive deficits caused by AB1-40 in rats, J Nutr Biochem, 19:619-26, 2008
Behl C, et al, Vitamin E protects nerve cells from amyloid B protein toxicity, Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 186:944-52, 1992
Hashimoto M, et al, Docosahexaenoic acid provides protection from impairment of learning ability in Alzheimer's disease model rats, J Neurochem, 81:1084-91, 2002
Rezai-Zadeh K, et al, Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) modulates amyloid precursor protein cleavage and reduces cerebral amyloidosis in Alzheimer transgenic mice, J Neurosci, 25:8807-14, 2005
Crook T1, Petrie W, Wells C, Massari DC.Effects of phosphatidylserine in Alzheimer's disease.Psychopharmacol Bull. 1992;28(1):61-6.
http://www3.scienceblog.com/community/older/1997/B/199702039.html (Calcium Channel Blocker reference)
