Alzheimer's+dis-ease

See also dementia ---degenerative - loss of cells. ---ACh neurons affected ---atrophy of brain ---senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles ---abnormally increased proteins in brain ---memory loss is early sx ---presenile: 40’s and 50’s ---senile: 60’s and 70’s ---> 65% of dementias in elderly ---20% familial ---genetic components - primarily in early onset [before age 60] ---4 major components: Heart disease of any kind, hypertension, diabetes, obesity

[risk doubles every 5 years after age of 65]

7 warning signs:
1. Asking the same question over & over again 2. Repeating the same story over again - word for word 3. Forgetting how to do an activity that used to be easy 4. Lose the ability to balance your checkbook 5. Getting lost and misplacing things 6. Neglecting to bath and wearing the same clothes over and over again while thinking there is no problem 7. Rely on someone else to answer questions & make decisions for you

Diagnosis
difficult a. memory impairment b. aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, or disturbed executive function c. continuing cognitive decline - above sx not due to specific causes - rule out chronic alcohol use, vitamin B12 deficiency, drug side-effects - must distinguish from primary psychiatric disorder - sometimes secondary to a treatable condition
 * clinical**

Lab
1. CBC 2. chem screen 3. thyroid function 4. serum B12 5. drug levels 6. HIV

Other studies
a. often N cortical atrophy with age and no sx b. must correlate with clinical state a. wave slowing
 * CT scan**
 * EEG**

Pharmaceuticals:
Aricept Exelon Razadyne Namenda - specifically for late stage significant side effects. do not stop, only slow down the degeneration for a matter of a few months

Prevention (possibly)
-Exercise -Eating more fruits & veggies Mediterranean diet seems linked to 68% lower incidence] -DHA -Heart health very important

Natural Treatment
1. tx underlying cause if one found 2. Ginkgo biloba - 80 mg TID [studies vary, if vasculature involved likely to be more effective] Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine: See dementia

Phytotherapeutic Recommendations
-Vinca Minor (Periwinkle)

Orthomolecular Treatment
-acetyl-L-carnitine - 500 mg TID -Phosphatidylserine - -Alpha-lipoic Acid 600-1200mg/day -Vitamin E - 2,000 IU/day -Resveratrol -Curcumin -decreased inflammation enough that it may inhibit neurofibrillary tangles

Beneficial Activities
Learn a new language puzzles, crosswords, brain games play a musical instrument

Studies:
Proteins in the brain that scoured for fragments to avoid neurofibrillary tangles. Those w/ alzheimer's seem to have lower levels of this protein -Low levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor in the brain, more degenerative change is found. glucose metabolism is a large component -Suggests that the hippocampus is working at a lower level -Fruit/vegetable juice intake 4-5x/week lowered risk 4x

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 * IBIS:**

Definition:
The most common cause of dementia in the elderly due to diffuse atrophy of the cerebral cortex and other brain areas.

Etiology:
The disease incidence increases with aging. It has not been shown to be clearly genetic, although an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance is a prominent theory, and many sporadic cases occur. Upon autopsy, neurofibrillary tangles are found within the cerebral neurons. Clusters of neuronal processes, called senile plaques or neuritic plaques, are also found.

Nutrition:
therapeutic foods: • increase foods that calm the Shen (Spirit), tonify the Heart, harmonize the Stomach and Spleen • increase foods rich in Calcium, Phosphorus, Manganese, Sulfur, Iodine, tryptophan (Jensen, p. 63) • egg yolk, kale, celery, fish, raw goat's milk, veal joint broth, cod roe, rice polishings, brewer's yeast, nutritional yeast (Jensen, p. 63)

fresh juices: • celery, carrot, prune (Jensen, p. 63) • prune and rice polishing (Jensen, p. 63) • raw goat's milk and 1 tsp. sesame, sunflower, or almond butter, 1 tsp. honey and sliver of avocado (Jensen, p. 63) • black cherry and egg yolk (Jensen, p. 63)

avoid: • meat, alcohol, hot sauces, spicy foods, fried foods, fatty foods, rich foods, salty foods, coffee, caffeine, sweet foods and sugar

Botanicals
• Ginkgo biloba (standardized extract): improves cerebral circulation (Pizzorno, Murray, V: Ginkgo-1; Le Bars PL, Katz MM, Berman N, Itil TM, Freedman AM, Schatzberg AF. JAMA 1997 Oct 22;278(16):1327-1332; Maurer K, Ihl R, Dierks T, Frolich L. J Psychiatr Res 1997 Nov;31(6):645-655; Chen X, Salwinski S, Lee TJ. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 1997 Dec;24(12):958-959; Oken, B, Storzbach, D, Kaye, J. Arch Neurol. 1998;55:1409-1415) • Centella asiatica: improves cerebral function • Physostigma venenosum (toxic): tincture 5 drops per day (Pizzorno, Murray, Alzhei-4)

Chinese Formulae
• Manthis F. (Sang Piao Xiao San): Kidney Qi Xu (Deficiency) with Heart Qi Xu (Deficiency): absentmindedness, forgetfulness, frequent urination (Hsu, 1980, p. 361; Yeung, p. 192; Bensky and Barolet, p. 362) • Shou Wu Pian (patent): Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) with Kidney Yin Xu (Deficiency) and Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) (Naeser, p. 296) • Gui Ling Ji (patent): Kidney Yang Xu (Deficiency) (Zhu, p. 297) • Bu Nao Wan (patent): Heart Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) with Liver Wind Stirring: dizziness (Zhu, p. 316) • An Mian Pian (patent): Heart Yin Xu (Deficiency) with False Fire: agitation (Zhu, p. 327) • Eleuthero 10+ (patent): Kidney Jing Xu (Essence Deficiency) (Dharmananda, 1990, p. 14)

» research: Huperzine A, an alkaloid isolated from the moss Huperzia serrata, has been found to enhance memory in Alzheimer's patients by preventing the breakdown of acetylcholine by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down acetylcholine. The enhanced levels of acetylcholine in brain cells contributes to improved spatial working memory and cognitive function. The medication is significantly less toxic than conventional acetylcholinesterase-inhibitors, such as physostigmine, Tacrine and Donepezil; research to this point has found no serious side effects after wide use for almost a decade. In one double-blind clinical study, 200 mcg of Huperzine A, twice daily, produced measurable improvements in memory, cognitive function, and behavioral factors in 58% of Alzheimer's patients. (Xu SS, et al. Chung Kuo Yao Li Hsueh Pao 1995 Sep;16(5):391-395.)

Acupuncture
after assessing the person and palpating, consider these patterns: Kidney Xu (Deficiency), affecting the Marrow; Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency), affecting the Brain

» illustrative combinations: • GV-16 and GV-20: treat brain disorders (Finkelstein, p. 81) • TW-19, Kd-16 and Lv-7: neutralize the effect of biochemical toxicities and balance the pineal gland (Morrisey) • si hua: UB-17 and UB-19 (+): the "four flowers"; build the Xue (Blood) • Sea of Marrow points: GV-1, GV-15, GV-16, GV-17 and GV-28

Homeopathy
• Anacardium: sudden loss of memory; unpleasant with people he likes and respects; aware of his attitude but cannot help • Aurum iodatum: sclerotic old people; agitation with thinness similar to iod. • Baryta acetica: sclerosis of bar-c. and depression of acids; paralysis and muscular paresis as in sclerotic and feeble old people • Baryta carbonicum: most classic; precocious senility with gradual intellectual weakness, loss of memory for recent facts, tendency to infantilism; general sclerosis; cachectic, cold; < damp cold • Calcarea phosphorica: nervous weakness; sentimental, easily touched; bad mood, no desire to work; violence with tendency to reproach people; great violence at least contradiction • Conium maculatum: unable to carry on a mental activity; sadness, anguish, strong desire to cry; anthropophobia but fear of solitude; bad mood • Natrum iodatum: vascular sclerosis; depression (nat.) and agitation (iod.) • Phosphorus: general organic aging with depression, sadness, apathy; no desire for any effort; anxiety, loquacious delirium; violent; erotic; apathetic; lack of concentration in ideas • Secale cornutum: arterial spasm, fits of rage, manic crisis, anxious, cachectic, always > cold

Subtle Support
mental/emotional: • rhythmic folk songs • County Derry • songs of Steven Foster • Spanish tangos • Brahms' Hungarian dances • Sousa's marches • Strauss' waltzes • Gilbert and Sullivan • Indian Love Call • My Wild Irish Rose • Wishing • Estrellita (Heline, p.18)

Mind/Body
• Cell-mediated immune processes may be involved in brain mechanisms underlying cerebral atrophy, dementia, depression, schizophrenia, and mental retardation. (Locke, 1983, p. 169) • Immunoglobulins may be involved in the pathogenesis of amyloid fibrils in senile plaques in patients with senile dementia or Alzheimer's disease. (Locke, 1983, p. 168) • Swedish research team has shown that memory loss in rats can be reversed by injecting them with a key protein NGF (nerve growth factor). By analogy, Alzheimer's may be treatable in the same way. (Chopra, p. 52) • Significantly higher incidence of extremely high titers of HSV1 antibodies in psychiatrically disturbed patients than controls of mentally healthy people. The most pronounced results were found in patients with schizophrenia and senile dementia. Penetration of HbsAg through the blood-brain barrier might be involved as an iatrogenic factor in the course of late psychoses. (Locke, 1983, p. 173) • Measles virus antibody levels were significantly higher in psychiatric patients regardless of diagnoses. Demented patients had significantly higher levels of antibody to adenovirus than control patients. (Locke, 1983, p. 202) • Both T- and B-dependent immunological indices were studied in 11 patients with presenile Alzheimer's and revealed T-cell system was functionally normal, but with a slight decrease of T-cell number and an increase of the null lymphocytes; decrease of serum IgM levels; no specific serum proteins were found; no auto-antibodies detected. (Locke, 1983, p. 180) • CSF of 245 neurological and 194 psychiatric patients were tested for viral antibodies and interferon. Complement-dependent neutralizing antibodies to herpes (HSV1) were found in the CSF of patients with senile dementia (52%), encephalitis (51%), alcoholism (44%), lesions of peripheral nerves (37%), multiple sclerosis (42%), meningitis (35%), schizophrenia (32%), mental retardation (11%). CSF interferon was found in psychiatric patients with an equal or even higher incidence (34-52%) than in the neurological patients (30-39%). The evaluation of the ratio of serum and CSF titers of viral antibodies and interferon showed local synthesis of both in the CNS. In neurological patients, CSF antibodies to 2 or 3 viruses simultaneously were observed in 16-41%, whereas only 0-5% in psychiatric patients. (Locke, 1983, p. 172) • Impaired immunoregulatory mechanisms in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT) may be related to the cause or the course of SDAT. Alternatively, these immunological changes may be secondary to pathological changes in the CNS. (Locke, 1983, p. 175) • Data suggests involvement of HLA-B7; however, other differences may exist between patients with and without this marker. Results of this study indicated that Alzheimer's patients with HLA-B7 antigens had significantly lower selective attentional scores than Alzheimer's patients without the antigen. Neither group was significantly different in either memory capacity or retrieval from short-term and long term memory. This supports the hypothesis that there may be more than one disorder involved in SDAT. (Locke, 1983, p. 192) • Consideration of the neuropathological changes suggest three processes: a viral-like infection, a disorder in the immune system, and the neurotoxic effect of an environmental agent. (Locke, 1983, p. 200) • A desire to leave the planet; the inability to face life as it is. (Hay, 1984, p. 151)

• Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit) and reveals itself through the brightness in the eyes and clarity of the mind; governs Fire and Heat; rules the Xue (Blood) and its vessels and directs the circulation; opens into the tongue and controls speech; and relates to the integration of the organs and the personality. » Healthy expressions are warmth, vitality, excitement, inner peace, love, and joy. » Heart Xu (Deficiency) signs include sadness; absence of laughter; depression; fear; anxiety; shortness of breath (Seem, p. 28); cold feeling in the chest and limbs; palpitations; cold sweat; inability to speak; memory failure; nocturnal emissions; and restless sleep. » The Heart is the Emperor of the bodily realm so that when the Heart is disturbed all the other organs will be disrupted.
 * Chinese psychophysiology:**

• Mental signs of Small Intestine channel disorders include poor mental assimilation; a feeling of mental deficiency due to inability to assimilate ideas; and insecurity. (Seem, p. 27)

• Mental signs of Stomach channel disorders include depression; death wishes; instability; suicidal tendencies; mentally overwrought; doubt; suspicions; tendency to mania; and slowness at assimilating ideas. (Seem, p. 27)

• Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; produces the Marrow which generates the spinal cord and "fills up" the brain; nourishes the brain to sustain concentration, clear thinking, and memory; and displays the stresses of aging, chronic degenerative processes, and overwork. » Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance. » Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; cold feet and legs; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); hearing loss; fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch. » Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Chronic anxiety often induces Deficiency and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).