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Alzheimer’s disease – Alternative Considerations
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By Paul H. Kim, MD, Medical Institute of Healthy Aging
Named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906, the first physician to identify the structural changes in the brain, Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia in the United States. This progressive brain disorder, presently believed to be irreversible, afflicts an estimated 5 million people in the United States. Alzheimer’s is currently ranked as the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. However, in the older population, it may be ranked 3rd only behind heart disease and cancer as a cause of death. The hallmarks of Alzheimer’s are the beta amyloid plaques and the tau neurofibrillary tangles that are present on brain pathology on autopsy.
The present-day medicines to alter the course of the decline in Alzheimer’s that are approved by the FDA include donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and memantine. These medicines work on the neurotransmitters to slow the progression of symptoms. However, the underlying disease is unaffected by these medications. In other words, they are NOT a cure for the disease.
In the alternative literature, low dose lithium has shown some promise in affecting possibly the formation of tau proteins into neurofibrillary tangles by inhibiting the GSK-3 enzyme. The GSK-3 enzyme stands for glycogen synthase kinase -3 and plays a role in glucose metabolism. It is this involvement of the GSK3 enzyme that has led to Alzheimer’s being called “type III diabetes.”
The microdoses of Lithium used to help with Alzheimer’s disease are at doses 3000-4000 x lower than used in psychiatry to treat bipolar disorder. Along the same line, a second product, proline rich polypeptides, alters the expression of genes involved in beta amyloid formation and in tau protein.
In a November 2017 Stanford press release, an early study using young blood sourced plasma was shown to be safe in the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease. Although this study was not powered to show results of the treatment, it was noted that two of the three tests to measure functional ability improved with the plasma therapy over the placebo.
To learn more about these three products and others to affect Alzheimer’s disease in an alternative manner, please schedule your complimentary consultation with Medical Institute of Healthy Aging.
