David Larsen is a mental health coach and in this particular webinar he shared light on the topic – “Arresting and Reversing Cognitive Decline (session 3)” wherein he discussed how to maintain a healthy brain and escape the epidemic of Alzheimer’s.
He began by giving a brief insight about the past sessions for the new ones to quickly grasp and be on the same lines as those who attended the webinar in the past.
He briefed on the benefits of this process which helps people with Dementia, Diabetes and Depression. It also helps in the cases of strokes and heart attacks and also some types of cancer. Dementia though it’s not a disease but it surely can be treated with wellness coach and psychology consultation. There are other diseases like Alzheimer which is caused due to Dementia. Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome and others can also be treated with group therapy.
There was a notion sometimes in the past that “There is nothing that can prevent, mitigate or cure Alzheimer’s” but then we discussed how it can be treated these days soon. Group therapy can go a long way in reversing cognitive decline.
He shared light on causes of cognitive decline and a few important ones are aas under:
Nutritional deficits incidental to ageing
a.) Lack of physical activity (sedentary)
b.) Lack of mental activity
c.) Prolonged stress
d.) Neuro-toxins / 200 meds
e.) Hearing loss
f.) Diabetes – Insulin resistance
g.) Cardio-vascular issues HBP
He also shared insight on an interesting study – Finland FINGER study (Finnish Geriatic Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment) wherein they were able to reverse significant reversal of symptoms as people applied what was there on the protocol in terms of diet, lifestyle and thereby considerably reduced the risks of cognitive decline. The major FINGER interventions included healthy diet, exercise, cognitive activities and social activities.
This is how they worked together:
Healthy Diet
Provides the nutrients needed
Exercise
Improves the circulation of those nutrients
Cognitive Activities
Improves assimilation into the brain
Social Activities
Reinforce memories
Appropriate nutrients are helpful and provides nutrients to the brain. There are a few other studies also from German arm of EPIC study and UCLA by Dr. Bredesen and Fotuhi Study which also support the same verdict.
- An effective treatment plan for Alzheimer’s is
- Measuring their status
- Identifying underlying causes and contributing factors
- Testing for biomarkers
- Targeting underlying contributors
- Tweeking diet, physical and mental activity
- Supplementing with needed nutrients
- Insuring a good night’s sleep
- Measuring progress
- Tweeking the plan as needed
Actually there are more than hundreds contributing factors that cause dementia, so there will not be one pill that prevents or suddenly reverses Alzheimer’s. Prevention doesn’t require supplementation but once the candidate is able to reverse cognitive decline nutrition is the natural path to maintain the healthy mind state. Nutrition and other factors like a good night sleep, healthy lifestyle contribute in reversing the cognitive decline.
There is lot of research since early 70s, which has been clinically proven to restore a healthy lifestyle and reverse cognitive decline. Blood test is important to understand the biomarkers to help restore the levels and monitor the progress. In case if the current plan doesn’t work the plan needs to be changed for better results.
David has identified 15 major factors in assessing risk for contributors to cognitive decline and they are as under:
- Age
- Genetics
- Blood Pressure
- Diabetes or A1C(diet)
- Thyroid
- Prolonged Stress or Depression
- Head injury
- Memory problems
- Sleep quality
- Level of physical activity
- Level of mental activity
- Medications
- Smoking history
- Alcohol history
- Hearing status
Most of the people suffering from cognitive decline have the problem with the blood flow and vascular issues. People are not getting nutrients and oxygen circulated in the brain and it also causes high blood pressure. This also results in calcium built up in certain parts of the body. Heart beat if not proper also results in cognitive decline.
The brain needs glucose is the primary source of energy but over time causes a condition of insulin resistance. But too much of glucose in blood can damage other proteins and cause Alzheimer’s. A1C should be around 5.0. A1C if becomes 5.9 it can be a highly diabetic condition. Thyroid is a major contributor to metabolism which also needs to be tracked accurately.
Another important factor is nutrient production. Brain uses maximum energy as compared to any other organ of the body other than heart. Prolonged stress increases cortosol in the brain which damage the cells which are responsible for memory. Patients having depression for more than 2 years have a higher chances for cognitive decline. This can cause inflammation in the head which can cause multiple memory problems.
Some wine is actually healthy for the brain but then people who have higher alcohol consumption are prone to mental issues. Alcohol depletes Thiamin (Vitamin B1) which causes damage to important parts of brain.
In case if someone has memory issues there are certain medications which can be detrimental to the memory.
Antacid
Anesthesias
Antibiotics
Anticonvulsants
Anticholinergic(for incontinence)
Antidepressants
Antihistamines
Antipsychotics
Benzodiazepines
Blood Pressure
Estrogen med
Pain relievers
Sedatives
Sleep meds
Statins
Steroids
Chemotherapy
L-Theanine, skullcap
L-arginine, Neo40 (beet root), hawthorn berry
Bioidentical estradiol
Curamin CBD, dl-phenylalanine
Ashwagandha, valerian
L-tryptophan, melatonin
CoQ10
Creatine, DHEA, Vitamin D
Antioxidants to protect cells tocotrienols
There are certain brain friendly options which can be used to heal it. Though they might not be very quick but very powerful, some might be quick aswell. A few of them are as under:
Enzymes and Betain HCL
Ginger
Gaba, kava, L-Theanine
Pumpkin seed extract
SAMe, B-12, L-trypthophan
Instranasal glutathione
Niacin, Taurine, L-theanine
High levels of niacin can be helpful for people to deal with some of the symptoms. These are certain recommendations to treat the patients in reversing cognitive decline. They can be used once the exact symptoms are well understood and recommendations provided therefrom as there is no single medicine which treats Alzheimer’s.
For live recording of the webinar you can click on the link below: https://www.loom.com/share/e78aa80641b94b1ba6b64e0bc687be33
David used online webinar platform Group Thera to guide people. In case if you are a medical practitioner, clinic or a hospital and want to take advantage of online webinar platform you can reach out to us at +1 617-775-3429 or email at [email protected]