Wow!!! Notice how much of the "treatment" here was diet, exercise, and stress reduction.

Actually, it was a 36-point therapeutic program that involves comprehensive changes in diet, brain stimulation, exercise, optimization of sleep, specific pharmaceuticals and vitamins, and multiple additional steps that affect brain chemistry.

36 points?!

In fact, the article said that it was a *complex* 36-point program. This does not seem to be exaggerated.

Yeah, sheesh, maintaining all 36 points requires all 24 hours in the day!

Granted, I've had a brain injury, but I'm not sure I could keep track of all of that!

Yeah, it's like you'd need a full-time assistant just to help you do all 36 things each day.

Here are fourteen of the 36 points:

(1) eliminating all simple carbohydrates, leading to a weight loss of 20 pounds;

(2) eliminating gluten and processed food from her diet, with increased vegetables, fruits, and non-farmed fish;

(3) to reduce stress, she began yoga;

(4) as a second measure to reduce the stress of her job, she began to meditate for 20 minutes twice per day;

(5) she took melatonin each night;

(6) she increased her sleep from 4-5 hours per night to 7-8 hours per night;

(7) she took methylcobalamin each day;

(8) she took vitamin D3 each day;

(9) fish oil each day;

(10) CoQ10 each day;

(11) she optimized her oral hygiene using an electric flosser and electric toothbrush;

(12) following discussion with her primary care provider, she reinstated hormone replacement therapy that had been discontinued;

(13) she fasted for a minimum of 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, and for a minimum of three hours between dinner and bedtime;

(14) she exercised for a minimum of 30 minutes, 4-6 days per week.

The article notes that not a single one of the patients was able to maintain the entire protocol successfully, even with what seems like a lot of help from family and caregivers. Also, given that at least 2 of the highlighted patients still maintained what seem to be cognitively taxing professional jobs, I'm guessing they were in the earlier stages of Alzheimers.

Moreover, to be honest I am wondering whether the protocol basically involves trying to improve the PHYSICAL health of the patient to the very best it can be, and the brain follows along? The patient with the 14 point protocol detailed above... she was only sleeping less than 5 hours a night! If I did that I would be a zombie within a week. And if she was able to lose 20 lb by cutting out carbs and exercising 30 minutes a day, it doesn't sound like she was in superb shape before. I guess what I'm getting at is, maybe part of what we think of as Alzheimer's is actually just the effects of our suboptimal lifestyle.

Thank you for clarifying this.

So basically, they just needed to adopt some very normal health habits like sleeping and eating nutritious foods. It's kind of amazing that people don't do that in their normal lives, you know?

Why is that so hard for people? Why do people not have good sleep and eating habits to begin with?

A simple guide to living healthy would be helpful.

it's funny to give someone with memory loss a 36-point daily check list!

Yeah, a simple check list of "eat healthy and get enough sleep" would be much better.

It's like they want them to not do everything on the list.

sounds like researchers at work again!

I guess this is why researchers research.

So then someone can come along and simplify the findings to make a plan.