By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

January 21, 2022

I talk to so many patients who say they wished they would have known more about Alzheimer’s before a loved one progressed to severe mental decline. Was there a specific warning sign they should have been watching for? Was there one, little thing that might have alerted them of things to come?

They also worry about getting Alzheimer’s themselves, and wonder what they should watch for in their own actions. Should they worry if they miss an appointment or misplace the remote?

Alzheimer’s disease isn’t just one thing. Sure you lost the remote last week. But if you can generally find what you’ve misplaced by retracing your steps, you’re probably good to go. We do stuff like that all of the time.

And who doesn’t miss an appointment every now and then?

The problems occur when you display consistently inconsistent behavior. For example, people with Alzheimer’s or dementia often put things in unusual places.

This means you may not be able to retrace your steps and find the remote, because you might have stashed it on the top shelf of the closet or inside a shoe. You might even be convinced one of the kids has taken off with it.

This is a sure sign of cognitive issues, especially if things start getting “lost” frequently.

And appointments. It’s perfectly normal to forget one every now and then. But when you forget them with any sort of frequency, it signals a disconnect between what’s going on in your brain and what’s going on in your life.

People with Alzheimer’s or dementia can often forget what day it is, what time it is or even where they are. That’s very different from occasionally mistaking a Thursday for a Wednesday – or thinking a meeting is at 1:00 when it’s at 2:00.

Other signs of cognitive impairment include repeatedly asking the same questions, problems maintaining a conversation, struggling with vocabulary, inability to remember words or names, and repeating things over and over again. Disorientation and personality changes are also very common.

Can Alzheimer’s Be Stopped?

I often hear people question the value of knowing whether or not Alzheimer’s is in their future. After all, not a single drug created to prevent it has ever worked.

Well, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do to prevent or reverse dementia.

An ingenious neurologist, Dale Bredesen, has had phenomenal results treating patients with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage Alzheimer’s. Without drugs. Without psychiatric care. And without any negative side effects.

How does he do it?

With good, old-fashioned functional medicine, just like the kind I practice right here at my own clinic. In fact, many of his methods mirror my own. So you can imagine how pleased I am to see a like-minded physicians helping people rediscover their mental faculties instead of doping them up so they can “painlessly” fade away into oblivion.

Using methods similar to Dr Bredesen’s, I’ve had phenomenal results. I’ll give you the example of a 70-year-old dentist who came into my clinic with his spouse. Four months after their initial visit, he was amazed. He said, “You told me there would be a 50% improvement in six months. Well, we’ve got an 80% improvement in only four months!”

The fact is, you CAN slow progression down. You CAN improve your condition. And you can even go back to work.

But it’s a strict lifestyle change. You have to drop your inflammatory load, balance insulin levels, lower sugar levels and identify the chronic low grade viral infections we all have residing in our bodies.

What’s Downsizing Your Brain?

The Bredesen Protocol starts out on a basic level, what Dr. Bredesen calls the Bredesen 7.

This starts with looking at diet, exercise habits, sleep quality, stress levels, brain training, detoxification and nutritional supplementation.

Then, treatment is personalized to the individual based on what is contributing to their mental decline. Common contributors include inflammation, insulin resistance, nutrient and hormonal deficiencies, specific pathogens, toxicants, and biotoxins, as well as genetics.

All in all, the Protocol looks at 36 factors that can trigger “downsizing” in the brain. Once you learn which of these factors are affecting your brain, action can be taken to correct and balance them with strategic lifestyle changes.

If you are serious about preventing or reversing cognitive deficiencies, you can find a Bredesen Certified practitioner in your area here.

If you want to get started on some measures you can take on your own, I outlined some of the major components of the Bredesen Protocol awhile back. You can view “Groundbreaking News: You CAN Reverse Alzheimer’s” and “Reverse Damage to Your Aging Brain” for more details.