My daughter Serena has her own blog; her most recent post shared her understandable concern for what may happen to her in the future, given her family history of dementia. Lately my posts have veered away from any brain health content and focused on the caregiver experience. Based on my extensive research to date, I will share the bad news and good news about dementia for my lovely daughter Serena, or for anyone. This is extremely important, please read through to the good news.
The Bad News:
I do not believe that, once dementia has reached a certain point in a person, it can be cured, ever. What happens to the brain organ is similar to what happens to the liver organ in the case of cirrhosis, once a high level of toxicity has been reached there is no turning back. In the case of dementia the toxicity is not the direct result of amyloid plaques, the focus of research attempting to cure Alzheimer’s, but oxidative stress.
Amyloid plaques induce oxidative stress, but people have been afflicted with the dementia symptoms typical of Alzheimer’s without these plaques. Dementia has been associated with emotional stress, low blood flow, diabetes, immune deficiencies and other malfunctions of metabolism, all contributors to oxidative stress.
My opinion is based on more than simply reading other people’s or association’s opinions and blogs on dementia. I am a qualified researcher with my doctorate’s and a background in biology. When primary research comes through my news feed regarding brain health I read the articles. Granted, some of them have a few too many Greek symbols and Latin terms for immediate comprehension, but usually by the end of a third reading I’ve understood the research. On the other hand, because I’m not invested in any particular research or funding stream, I view everything I read in terms of what jives with my own experience rather than my research dollars.
So I’ll repeat the bad news, because oxidative stress has many different causes in addition to amyloid plaques, I do not believe that dementia can be cured once it has reached a certain level of toxicity.
The Good News:
My heart goes out to Serena’s sadness for her Mom and concern for her brain health future, but I do have good news about the latter. The flip side of people without plaques still having dementia is that people whose brains were riddled with the plaques were able to escape dementia. This means that even the hereditary, early onset form of Alzheimer’s can be avoided … if caught in time.
People with a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism are at greater risk for cirrhosis of the liver, but they can eliminate that risk through their behaviors. Just so, if your behaviors can prevent the toxicity of oxidative stress from building up you can avoid dementia, even with a genetic predisposition. Granted, adopting a quality of life that minimizes oxidative stress is more difficult than taking a pill or being treated with ultrasound, but will ward off other causes in addition to amyloid plaques.
Our own experience verifies this claim. When Cindy and I walked 5,000 miles across the country her condition improved because she had yet to reach the point of no return. She went from not being able to help me set up our tent to setting up our tent all by herself. She went from asking me what happened that day for all of her journal entries to being able to rely on her own memory. As we walked across the country she started making plans to get back into cooking, quilting and gardening. She wanted to take classes on photography and other subjects. She proclaimed, all along our journey: “I’m getting better!”
Photo by Cindy
Yet we did not know Alzheimer’s was the cause of Cindy’s brain health issues at the time. Instead, I thought Cindy had been cured of an anxiety disorder and my vigilance regarding her brain health waned. By the time of her official diagnosis she had reached the point of no return.
It does not have to be too late for our children, or for you, not with the right lifestyle. In one of the studies of people who escaped from dementia, despite brains riddled with plaques, the subjects were nuns. If you have a genetic predisposition maybe that’s what it takes in a stressful, civilized society. Maybe you don’t have to be nuns, or hike thousands of miles each year. Maybe you can find the right lifestyle that caters to your own personality. Maybe you are still young, like our children, and do not have to be vigilant with your lifestyle quite yet. I just would suggest that you don’t wait until an official diagnosis to maximize exercise and minimize stress in your life.
