Tag: dementia

How do we deal with the increasing number of cases of dementia?

Helle Egebjerg

November 15. 2024

How do we deal with the increasing number of cases of dementia?

The short answer is that we need to focus much more on prevention.

And as long as the public sector only steps in once diseases have occurred, prevention is something we ourselves are responsible for.

In 2022, of the 266 billion kroner budgetted for public health, the Danish health authorities spent only 7% on prevention and health promotion, e.g., spending on information campaigns.

Even in the first version of A Comprehensive Danish Brain Plan, the focus seems to be mostly on treating diseases of the brain once they have occurred.

This despite the fact that it is estimated that almost half of dementia cases could be prevented. Of course, the number is probably even higher, as only 2-3% of Alzheimer’s cases are due to genetic predisposition.

What is the status in Denmark regarding the number of people with dementia?

In Denmark, there are just over 96,000 persons aged 65 or above living with dementia.

The number is expected to grow to more than 134,000 people by 2035.*

Among people aged 65 and over, there are approximately 8,000 to 8,700 new registered cases of dementia per year in Denmark. This corresponds to approximately 22 to 24 new cases per day all year round.

There are just over 400,000 relatives of people with dementia.

Think about that for a moment!

This corresponds to almost everyone in cities like Roskilde and Herning combined having dementia today, and in 10 years, everyone from the town Fredericia also having dementia.

In effect, every year, everyone in a city the size of Sorø would also get dementia.

Not only that, everyone who lives in Aarhus and Aalborg is a relative!

Dementia is something that concerns us all.

Our lifestyle has a great influence on the risk of dementia.

There is broad agreement that our lifestyle influences the risk of developing dementia. This is apparent if we look at Videnscenter for demens (the Danish Knowledge Center for Dementia), at the latest Lancet report, or at reports from skilled doctors and researchers in this field. I would especially like to mention Dr. Dale Bredesen’s work on the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s with an Orthomolecular approach and Chris A. Knobbe’s research in relation to the responsibility of vegetable oils for our lifestyle diseases, including dementia*.

It is positive to see that the Knowledge Center for Dementia is focusing on how we can reduce the risk of dementia. They recommend the following:

  1. Keep your brain active
  2. Be social
  3. Get some exercise
  4. Quit smoking, cut down on alcohol, and eat healthily
  5. Control your blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure

According to the Lancet Commission’s 2024 update on dementia, promising new evidence for dementia prevention is highlighted.

This report estimates that there is potential to prevent almost half of all dementia cases by eliminating 14 identified risk factors.

The 14 risk factors are:

  1. Low education and cognitive inactivity
  2. Hearing loss (untreated)
  3. High LDL cholesterol
  4. Depression
  5. Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  6. Physical inactivity
  7. Diabetes
  8. Smoking
  9. High blood pressure
  10. Obesity
  11. Excessive alcohol
  12. Social isolation
  13. Air pollution
  14. Vision impairment

If we look more specifically at Alzheimer’s, Dr. Dale Bredesen has researched and developed a program for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.

Dale Bredesen’s program is structured in three steps: 1) remove things that can lead to cognitive impairment, 2) maintain optimal health, and 3) enable the reconstruction of the brain’s neural network.

Dr. Bredesen points out the importance of keeping an eye on a number of biomarkers throughout life that have an influence on the development of Alzheimer’s.

Ideally, we could reduce chronic inflammation, ensure optimal nutrient levels, hormones and NGF (nerve growth factor), avoid diabetes, get rid of toxins, avoid vascular diseases, and ensure better brain reconstruction after brain trauma.

The biomarker tests Dr. Bredesen recommends relate to toxins and pathogens, nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, long-term blood sugar levels and other factors that can reveal a lack of insulin sensitivity. These are also tests that reveal inflammation. Also important are, optimal levels of CoQ10, glutathione, homocysteine and hormones, among others.

In addition, he recommends tests for the toxins mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, organic toxins, herbicides, mycotoxins, and antibodies against pathogens such as borrelia and herpes.

Regarding vitamins, it is especially important that we are NOT deficient in Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E.

With respect to minerals, it is especially important that we are not deficient in magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium, and potassium.

With regard to fatty acids, it is especially important that we do not have a deficit of the Omega 3 fatty acids DHA and EPA and that the balance between the pro-inflammatory Omega 6 and the anti-inflammatory Omega 3 is optimal.

Dale Bredesen has developed a program called ReCode.

It is based on a lifestyle and diet pyramid that supports a well-functioning brain.

At the bottom is a foundation of quality sleep, KetoFLEX 12/3, and physical activity.

KetoFLEX 12/3 is partial fasting. The recommendation is that we should not eat in the last 3 hours before we sleep and that at least 12 hours should pass before we eat again after the last meal of the evening.

Partial fasting has many health benefits, including increased insulin sensitivity and the increased ability of the body to use both glucose and ketones as an energy source, as well as an anti-inflammatory effect, all of which are important factors for brain health.

Then we should make sure to eat lots of colorful vegetables with low carbohydrate levels and get healthy fats from avocados, nuts, and olives. Avoid vegetable oils rich in Omega 6, such as sunflower oil, corn oil and grape seed oil. Make sure to consume spices such as turmeric and saffron as well as green tea, as they have important anti-inflammatory properties.

The next layer in the pyramid is upgrading our gut microbiome with prebiotics, fermented foods, and foods high in resistant starch.

Then comes the layer in the pyramid with proteins and good fats. The brain in particular needs Omega 3 from wild-caught fatty fish, as well as choline and B vitamins from eggs. And This also includes berries. Eat a variety of berries and wild organic blueberries, which are the best choice.

At the top of the pyramid is what we are allowed to have just a little of, e.g., chocolate snacks. Alcohol should be avoided, as it is a neurotoxin.

The importance of reducing the intake of vegetable kernel oil is further documented by Cf. Chris A. Knobbe’s extensive work. His hypothesis is, that the root of today’s lifestyle diseases is that we started eating kernel oils such as sunflower oil and grape seed oil, etc. This also applies to the occurrence of dementia.

So, there is hope ahead in terms of doing something about the incidence of dementia, but it requires daily choices for each of us. A brain-friendly diet does not include vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid (LA) / Omega 6 fatty acids, especially sunflower oil, corn oil, and grape seed oil should be avoided.

What can you do today?

Throw away your vegetable seed oil and never buy it again!

So, out with sunflower oil, corn oil and grape seed oil. Out they go!

Read the product labels carefully, as vegetable seed oil is found in many finished products, from pesto to tuna in oil. It is easy to see the contents. There is a surprising occurrence in some oat drinks and as a surface treatment for organic raisins.

The best alternative is to eat only pure foods that do not have an ingredient list!

Top 10 brain foods that you should always have in your kitchen:

  • Fatty fish: herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and wild salmon
  • Avocado
  • Broccoli
  • Spinach
  • Eggs
  • Olives and good olive oil
  • Wild blueberries
  • Walnuts
  • Turmeric with pepper
  • Dark chocolate

Top 10 supplements:

  • EPA and DHA from algae oil or fish oil
  • EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) olive oil
  • Coconut oil or MCT (medium chain triglycerides) oil
  • Multivitamins and possibly extra Vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin D
  • Coenzyme Q10
  • Glutathione
  • Pre-, pro- and postbiotics
  • Ginkgo biloba
  • Turmeric with pepper
  • Saffron

From here, just start filling the house with lots of good brain food.

Enjoy your meal.

Take good care of yourself and those around you and remember to embrace life, especially those people close to you who have had memory lapses. They deserve it.

Helle Egebjerg Andersen
Cand.pharm. and lecturer

 

Sources:

https://www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/nyheder-analyser-publ/bagtal/2023/2023-10-11-sundhedsudgifter2022

En samlet dansk hjerneplan skal styrke indsatsen mod sygdomme i hjerne- og nervesystem

FAKTA-ARK OM DEMENSSYGDOMME Hvad er Alzheimers sygdom?

Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission

Forekomst af demens i Danmark

Dr. Dale Bredesen; The End of Alzheimer’s

Christ A. Knobbe; The Ancestral Diet Revolution

Carnitine, a Stimulant for Heart, Brain, and Muscles

Claus Hancke

May 9, 2005

Carnitine creates energy in aged cells. The message from a new scientific congress is that supplementation of carnitine seems to help against both heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and dementia.

Are your memory failing or are you loosing strength, then perhaps carnitine is the remedy for rescue

Carnitine is an – undeservedly – overlooked dietary supplement that is on its way into the ‘scientific warmth’. A clear signal is that the New York Academy of Sciences dedicate a whole volume of its famous scientific annals to carnitine alone.

Here you can read more than 197 pages from all 18 contributions given at a two-day conference on carnitine held by the academy in March 2004. The contributions are, among other things, about the importance of carnitine for the burning of fat, for the functioning of the muscles and the heart and about its promising role in the fight against a weakened memory.

Carnitine is an essential nutrient that we mainly get from red meat and dairy products. The body only produces small amounts, and vegans in particular are at risk of deficiency. Carnitine is necessary for the mitochondria – the energy factories of the cells – to burn fat. First, it enables fatty acids to enter the mitochondria, then it promotes their combustion, thereby preventing the harmful accumulation of fatty acid residues, while at the same time supplying the cells with energy.

With age, the transfer of fatty acids to the mitochondria slows down. In addition, the mitochondria become less able to get rid of incompletely broken down fatty acids. This leads to their accumulation of free radicals, a main reason why they degenerate. But without mitochondria, there is no life. Degeneration of the mitochondria is a central phenomenon in the aging process.

Anti-Aging
Many therefore believe that carnitine is an extremely obvious ally in the fight against aging. In a summary by Charles Rebouche from Iowa University, it is stated that carnitine supplementation appears to inhibit aging in rats, just as in humans it both combats age-related memory decline and mitigates the deterioration of Alzheimer’s.

That carnitine as a supplement can really replace missing carnitine function is evident from experiences with children who, for genetic reasons, have difficulty transferring carnitine to the mitochondria. Untreated, they develop severe heart and muscle diseases, but with the help of carnitine supplements, children with these rare disorders have survived to more than 30 years of age – and are still doing well.

However, many more people can benefit from Italian studies that have shown that it is possible to limit the damage that occurs to the heart when a blood clot cuts off the blood supply to parts of the heart muscle. Carnitine reduces the deformation of the heart that would otherwise occur, and during long-term treatment, carnitine-treated patients can work longer and harder, and their fitness is better.

This is an extremely exciting result, which is consistent with the finding that patients with intermittent claudication – walking pain due to calcification, and thus narrowing, of the arteries in the legs – improved their performance on a treadmill when they received a supplement of two grams of carnitine daily.

After the congress, experiments have shown that carnitine also helps against the type of diabetic neuropathy that causes pain. In both rats and humans, a significant effect has been found on this neuropathy, which is often a painful companion to undertreated diabetes. The dose was ½-1 gram three times daily.

Nerves, muscles and heart are major consumers of energy. Carnitine supplies energy. When the brain, heart or muscles weaken with age, it seems wise to think about Carnitine.

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Salvatore Alesci et al. (Eds.). Carnitine: The Science behind a Conditionally Essential Nutrient. Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences 2005, vol. 1033.

www.annalsnyas.org
www.iom.dk

Deficiency in B-vitamin Causes Dementia

Claus Hancke

April 18, 2005

According to one American study, folic acid weakens the memory of the elderly. According to another study, the opposite happens. Nearly all studies, however, indirectly indicate that folic acid prevents both arteriosclerosis and dementia.

It is a well-known fact that the B-vitamin folic acid prevents congenital neural tube defects. However, it can also lower the blood’s content of homocysteine; a biproduct in human metabolism that promotes atherosclerosis, among other things. Having an increased level of homocysteine is just as dangerous as cholesterol: Up to 40% of all individuals with premature atherosclerosis have increased blood levels of homocysteine.

The fact that homocysteine also damages the brain is indicated by more than 20 different studies. It has been found with almost unerring certainty that demented old people have more homocysteine in their blood than others and that the ones who score highest on memory tests are the ones with the least homocysteine in their blood. This is a clear argument for taking folic acid.

However, completely unexpectedly, a fly in the ointment has now appeared. A study at Rush University in Chicago has shown that the exact opposite might be the case. If you are elderly and you get more than the typical 0.4mg. of folic acid a day, your memory will decline more rapidly.

A total of 3,718 trial subjects over 65 years of age were followed for five to six years after having reported their eating habits. They were then mentally tested three times during the course of the 5 – 6 years. The results were the same whether they got folic acid from their diet or from dietary supplements: In the people taking folic acid, memory declined more rapidly than in the others.

Are these results the result of a coincidence? Anyhow, it does make you wonder that the 20% who got the most folic acid (0.7 mg. a day) did far better on the mental tests than the rest. Granted, their memory deteriorated more rapidly, but they obviously had a better memory to begin with. Why was that so, if folic acid is actually harmful?

In addition to this, doctors from the UCLA in February 2005 published results stating the exact opposite. Among 499 well-functioning 70 – 79 year-olds, most folic acid was found in the blood of the ones who had the best memory. And equally importantly: Seven years later, they were in better posession of all their faculties.

No explanation
What is true, then? If the truth lies in the Chicago study, it might be based on the co-operation between vitamin B12 and folic acid. Both vitamins reduce blood levels of homocysteine and the major task of both of them is to produce small, chemical units – which only contain a single carbon atom – for building other molecules.

Folic acid delivers its units to vitamin B12 which are then further delivered to – homocysteine. In this way, homocysteine is neutralized and is transformed into a harmless amino acid and the blood level of homocysteine will drop.

Whether you lack vitamin B12, folic acid, or both, the transport of the single-carbon units will be complicated. In all three cases, the result will be a specific type of anaemia (pernicious anaemia) which is characterized by the red blood cells being abnormally large.

However, the symptoms in vitamin B12 deficiency and folic acid deficiency are not quite similar. In folic acid deficiency, neuritis – i.e. nerve damage – will not occur. In vitamin B12 deficiency, it will. The anaemia in vitamin B12 deficiency can be removed by taking folic acid, but the neuritis cannot. Vitamin B12 has an affect on nervous tissue that folic acid cannot imitate.

In up to 30% of all elderly people, vitamin B12 deficiency can be demonstrated. Imagine large amounts of folic acid enhancing the B12 deficiency in the nervous system by blocking the small amounts of vitamin B12 with single-carbon compounds. This could correlate to another finding in the Chicago study: Memory declined by 25% less in the ones with the largest consumption of vitamin B12.

The leader of the study, Martha Clare Morris, believes that folic acid might mask the very common vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly. This is more or less the same thing. In both cases, the consequence should be that the elderly get more vitamin B12 and not less folic acid which can have a protective effect in other areas.

This is the message – that is if you do not choose to believe that the new finding is a coincidence and that the truth is the exact opposite – which is actually also quite likely!

For the time being, however, Morris’ conclusion is simple: “We don’t know yet what is going on,” she says.

Up to every third elderly person may have demonstrable signs of mild vitamin B12 deficiency. If the results of the Chicago study are truthful, elderly persons possibly should not reduce their folic acid intake but rather focus on getting enough vitamin B12.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Morris MC et al. Dietary folate and vitamin B12 and cognitive decline among community-dwelling older persons. Arch Neurol 2005;62:641-5
2. Austin RC et al. Role of hyperhomocysteinemia in endothelial dysfunction and atherthrombotic disease. Cell Death and Differentiation 2004;11:S56-S64
3. Morris MS. Homocysteine and Alzheimers disease. Lancet Neurol 2003;2:425-8
4. Kado DM et al. Homocysteine versus the vitamins folate, B6, and B12 as predictors of cognitive function and decline in older high-functioning adults: Mac Arthur Studies of Successfull Aging. Am J Med 2005;118:161-7
5. Garcia A et al. Homocysteine and cognitive function in elderly people. CMAJ, Oct. 12, 2004; 171 (8).

archneur.ama-assn.org
www.nature.com/cdd/index.html
www.thelancet.com
www.sciencedirect.com
www.cmaj.ca
www.iom.dk