From the occasional “Where did I leave my cell phone” to “Who are you, and where am I” seems like a very long step. We’ve all done it from time to time. Can’t find the car keys, don’t remember where we parked the car, can’t bring to mind the name of your old (or new) friend… We are told by the medical establishment that the progression from short-term memory impairment to Alzheimer’s dementia is likely inevitable once it begins. We are told that the best we can do is maybe stave off the inevitable with drugs that we are working constantly to develop.
How do we know whether we are in the early stages of what we most fear? We could just be having a bad day, right? Or we could just be getting older—one of the biggest “risk factors” for development of Alzheimer’s.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s is amyloid plaque—sort of like asphalt crack-filler in roads—that gets deposited in the brain and confuses our nerve cells such that their long tails, instead of being nice and straight and conducting nerve impulses, start to curl up and get tangled, conducting nerve impulses that go nowhere except around and around…
What if we could measure amyloid plaque in the blood—or even a precursor, a warning signal, of too much amyloid?
Conventional medicine has no test. But researchers have found a way to make those measurements and to correlate them with brain MRI evidence of amyloid plaque. If we know we have plaque but have only the occasional memory lapse, it stands to reason that there must be some way to reverse the plaque and restore our brain function to normal. But once measured, we are told that there is no way to remove the plaque. Seems like an exercise in futility, right? Not so.
An ongoing study consists of measuring blood amyloid—correlating the amyloid levels with build-up of plaque in the brain—and shows that treatments to decrease the level of amyloid in the blood lead to a decrease of plaque in the brain, and even restoration of memory function in some patients. One such treatment, Plasmapheresis—“washing the blood” to clean it of toxins and impurities—is shown to improve circulation, lower levels of toxins, and improve memory and brain function in those who are willing to make some changes in their lives. Such changes include food choices, exercising, and letting go of old grudges are all hugely important in both prevention and treatment. Healing has to do not only with the psyche but also with the physical body – the mitochondria without which we die – a slow death or a fast death, depending… Alzheimer’s is, alas, the slow death. And we don’t necessarily have to travel that road. Visit https://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com for more information. A complimentary 15-minute phone consultation is offered to see whether this approach is a good one for you.
References:
- https://www.cdc.gov/aging/aginginfo/alzheimers.htm
- Alzheimer Disease Prevention – Marc Agronin, MD – downloaded from Psych Congress Network on 09-20-22.
- Hyman, B.T., Damasio, H., Damasio, A.R. and Van Hoesen, G.W., 1989. Alzheimer’s disease. Annual review of public health, 10(1), pp.115-140.
- Tosun, D., Veitch, D., Aisen, P., Jack Jr, C.R., Jagust, W.J., Petersen, R.C., Saykin, A.J., Bollinger, J., Ovod, V., Mawuenyega, K.G. and Bateman, R.J., 2021. Detection of β-amyloid positivity in Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative participants with demographics, cognition, MRI and plasma biomarkers. Brain communications, 3(2), p.fcab008.
- Boada-Rovira, M., 2010. Human Albumin Grifols 5% in plasmapheresis: a new therapy involving beta-amyloid mobilisation in Alzheimer’s disease. Revista de Neurologia, 50, pp.S9-18.
- Roca, I. and Cuberas-Borros, G., 2010. Neuroimaging in Alzheimer’s disease: findings in plasmapheresis with albumin. Revista de Neurologia, 50, pp.S19-22.
Loeffler, D.A., 2020. AMBAR, an encouraging Alzheimer’s trial that raises questions. Frontiers in Neurology, 11, p.459.
