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New research suggests that making fundamental lifestyle changes could halt the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
People diagnosed with precursors to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia who switched to a plant-based diet, exercised and meditated daily, and attended therapy once a week showed significant improvements in memory, speech and cognition compared to patients who continued with their usual lifestyles.
One patient in the trial, Sissi Zerbe, a California resident in her mid-80s, said the treatment had improved her symptoms and that she was “feeling a lot better” since starting it.
When Zerbe was diagnosed with dementia, she feared she would end up like her mother in a nursing home and dependent on round-the-clock care, but she says that thanks to treatment she is still able to live independently and go for walks by herself each morning.
Diet and exercise influence heart health, and blood circulation is thought to influence the development of dementia.
This means that by improving their heart health, participants may have improved blood flow to the brain, helping to reduce symptoms of the disease.
Previous research has shown a link between blood flow and dementia, Rahul Sidhu, a PhD student in neuroscience at the University of Sheffield, who was not involved in the study, wrote in The Conversation.
When arteries become clogged due to smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, etc., not enough blood is supplied to the brain.
Over time, this prolonged stress can affect brain tissue, which may be one of several factors that influence the likelihood of developing dementia.
Improving blood flow through diet and exercise changes could return more blood and energy to the brain, potentially preventing some of the symptoms of dementia, Sidhu wrote.
Professor Sidhu said the results of the new study were published in the Nichols Journal. [patient] And Zerbe could say he has “reversed” the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.”
But this was only the experience of two people in a study of 51, he noted, and he cautioned that the intervention may not be as effective if tested in a larger population.
Such studies to find alternative treatments for the debilitating disease, which affects 6.9 million Americans, are growing in popularity as other treatments, including medication, have largely been ineffective.
Currently, there are only two FDA-approved drugs that provide modest relief from symptoms of the disease, but one of them has been halted amid controversy.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, without treatment, people with Alzheimer’s can live up to 20 years, during which time their memory, concentration and sleep quality will slowly deteriorate as the disease continues to damage brain tissue.
Dean Ornish, PhD, founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Institute, said: Universities CaliforniaSan FranciscoThe researchers behind the new study theorize that changing habits may help halt the progression of the disease.
To test this theory, Dr. Ornish and his colleagues enrolled 51 patients, whose average age was 73, in a study.
All of the patients in the study had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but they were in the early stages of the disease, so symptoms were not very advanced.
the study – Published in the journal Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment –We only looked at effects over a 20-week period.
Half of the participants, 26 people, signed up for a new lifestyle plan: eating prepackaged vegetarian meals, walking every day, strength training three times a week, meditating daily, and attending group therapy with loved ones three times a week.
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Their diet consisted mainly of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts and soy products, and was low in sweeteners and added fats. They were also given eight supplements to take daily.
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, likely because vegetables and fruits contain more nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants than meat and wheat products.
These nutrients support overall body health and may also protect the brain, the researchers write.
When it came to exercise, participants didn’t have to start training like Olympic athletes.
Instead, the researchers asked participants to walk for at least 30 minutes each day and do light strength training with a nurse three times a week.
This is probably Regular exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia by 45%. According to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Additionally, participants were instructed to spend one hour each day practicing meditation, yoga and breathing exercises over Zoom with a specialist to manage stress.
Chronic stress has been linked to an incredible number of health problems, including dementia.
The researchers write that stress causes inflammation in the body, which can wear down brain tissue over a lifetime and increase the chances of dementia.
The final piece of the puzzle was group therapy: participants were asked to bring their spouses to discuss their emotional and cognitive health with a counselor present.
This was to build communication skills and foster a sense of community, the researchers wrote.
Social isolation has been shown to increase the risk of dementia, possibly because isolation leads people to make unhealthy choices such as drinking alcohol, smoking and avoiding exercise, the researchers wrote.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that it could increase your chances of developing dementia by 60 percent.
The other half of the study participants, 25 people, went about their daily lives as usual.
Both groups were asked questions about their quality of life and were given several tests to measure cognitive decline at the start and end of the study.
One assessment involves the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, in which patients are given a score based on how well they complete a worksheet that includes drawing, memory, attention, language, and the ability to make connections between concepts.
The study found that 71 percent of those who received treatment performed better on cognitive tests compared to their initial scores.
During the same period, 66% of people who made no lifestyle changes experienced declines in cognitive test scores and worsening symptoms.
Lead researcher Dr. Ornish told TIME: “This is not the end all study, but it shows for the first time that radical lifestyle changes can improve cognition and function in people with Alzheimer’s.”
Cici Zerbe, a California resident in her mid-80s, was among a group that achieved a better score after 20 weeks of following the new diet.
Zerbe told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta that five years after starting treatment, he feels “much better.”
The retired educator said he believes the treatment helped him recover from the illness.
Another patient, Simon Nicholls, 55, said taking part in the trial had helped him to halt the progression of his disease.
Other experts not involved in the study were cautious about the findings.
“We don’t have a definitive answer yet,” Laura Baker, professor of gerontology and geriatrics at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, told USA Today.
“I don’t think there’s enough evidence for the idea that lifestyle interventions can improve dementia or cognitive impairment,” Dr Baker added.
Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at Cornell University who oversaw Nichols’ treatment, said that even if the results don’t prove to reverse Alzheimer’s, they’re still promising.
“The results we’ve seen in Simon and other patients in our study have been very exciting,” Dr. Isaacson said of his patients.
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