Do you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or senile dementia? Are you concerned for yourself? Loss of your ability to think or remember is devastating. “You” literally cease to exist bit by bit, but your body keeps going on. Life as you knew it slips away because everything “you knew” is slipping away. Everything you made of your life slips away.
So what is Alzheimer’s anyway? If you read articles on it they will talk about beta-amyloid plaques forming on the nerves and neurofibril entanglements blocking normal nerve function in the memory and cognition areas of the brain. This sounds very scientific, and at the end of every article it says “and further research will be needed.” Rarely do they ever say anything useful like what to do or how to avoid it. Sometimes I think the only reason for these articles is to generate more research funding.
So what is Alzheimer’s? Simply put, Alzheimer’s is brain inflammation. That’s right, the same stuff as happens in arthritic joints, inflamed guts, smoker’s cough, and so on. When your body perceives a threat anywhere, your immune system goes into overdrive to wipe out that threat. Unfortunately, in the battlefield environment that takes place, collateral damage to otherwise healthy cells occurs. In most of the body there are specialized immune cells that control the battle to prevent excess healthy cell death. However the brain does not have these control cells, so any battle wipes out everything – the good as well as the bad. The chemical warfare blasts tangle nerve endings and leave lots of damaged globs of protein called amalyoid plaque that gums up the works of the surviving nerve cells.
About 1/3 of the cases of Alzheimer’s are believed to have a genetic basis making these people more sensitive to the plaque formation and more prone to developing brain inflammation. For these people understanding the cause and avoiding all the triggers to this process is vital. Two thirds of the cases are not gene based (although gene weaknesses to specific factors is likely involved in some way) and are simply toxin exposure based and nutritional lifestyle deficiency based. Current estimates state that 40% of the aging population is at risk for these disorders over the next 15 years.
There is a strange lack of common sense in the scientific community – mostly because (in my opinion) common sense does not funnel billions of dollars into researcher’s checking accounts. There is a ton of research into the precise chemical pathways causing damage in hopes of producing drugs to block these pathways (and thus tons of more money into pharmaceutical company’s bank accounts.) But no one is suggesting that we avoid the problems in the first place by not filling our bodies with the poisons that trigger the warfare causing the problems. The basic assumption is that we will continue to poison ourselves so we need drugs to block the action of these poisons on our systems. Science sees you, the patient, as a helpless victim of circumstance. You couldn’t possibly be expected to change your diet and lifestyle to avoid toxin-induced inflammation. Avoiding toxins might cut into the profits of the same chemical company conglomerates that are researching high priced solutions to sell you to treat the damage their products cause.
Don’t get me wrong, I love science and what the research scientists are doing is vital largely because they are right – people are not willing to change their diet and lifestyle. But lets not kid ourselves, they all have mortgages and car payments and college funds for their kids that need to be supported. They are not about to stand up and say “Hey, my research isn’t really needed. All you really need to do live clean and natural to avoid these diseases.”
Next newsletter I will go into what can be done to fight the brain inflammation producing Alzheimer’s and dementia as well as natural substances that can help overcome present existing damage. But for this newsletter the message is clear. The best remedy for Alzheimer’s is to avoid the brain inflammation that causes it. How do you do that? I have outlined the diet and lifestyle changes necessary in my articles titled: Health Priorities 1,Health Priorities 2, Health Priorities 3, The Anti-inflammatory Diet, and the yearlong transition process Health Challenge Series. If you want the one line version: Eat only fresh, natural, clean foods in alignment with your personal metabolism; drink pure water; breathe clean fresh air; and move around a lot. These principles apply to anyone who thinks they are heading in that direction as well. If you want a healthy brain, you have to clean up your act now. By the time the “magic pill” is invented, it will already be too late for you.
If you are curious about just how much nervous system damage has already occurred in your body, The Health Express Heart Rate Variability exam we are currently offering for free at the office will give you a really good idea. Of all the tissues in your body, the one that is most sensitive to nerve and brain function changes and yet easy to observe is your heart. Second by second the timing and variation of your heartbeats is a constant measure of the balance of the two halves of your nervous system. We can literally measure your brain and body health by measuring your heartbeat. Come on in and get checked out.