Alzheimer’s disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer.  In the United Kingdom, it is the first leading cause of death.  Alzheimer’s disease is reaching epidemic proportions and threatens 50 percent of those between 40 and 60 years of age.  The costly conventional treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, which consists mostly of behavior management, threatens to bankrupt Medicare.  Women are at a much greater risk than men for the disease; 65% of Alzheimer’s disease patients are women.  The risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease in women is greater than the risk of breast cancer.  Unless treated, Alzheimer’s disease is fatal.  Everyone knows a cancer survivor but no one knows an Alzheimer’s survivor; until now.

Now there is a treatment protocol. Dr. Dale Bredesen, author of The End of Alzheimer’s , The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline,  has found a major medical breakthrough after thirty years of research.  He discovered that the treatment for Alzheimer’s disease is a comprehensive and individualized program rather than a single drug treatment.  This protocol, or program, can stop the progression of Alzheimer’s dementia, in early cases reverse it and when implemented early enough can prevent it. To find out more about Dr. Bresesen,click here.

Dr. Somner, a highly experienced psychiatrist is trained in the Bredesen protocol and is now available to help you.  Dr. Somner has years of experience in functional medicine, psychiatry and medical acupuncture.  She brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to the Bredesen protocol.  Dr. Somner has an equal facility in treating patients with pharmaceutical medication and natural medicine.  What she has found is that for psychiatric and cognitive disorders, improving the basics of diet, stress management, sleep and exercise will improve the brain’s ability to heal and are the cornerstone of treatment.  Follow the basics with targeted treatments for the specific sub type of dementia you have and you have a recipe for success.  The targeted treatments include: nutraceuticals (supplements) specifically chosen for the sub-type, medications, if necessary, such as thyroid or hormone replacement and the removal of toxins such as heavy metals, mold toxins or pesticides.   To find out more about Dr. Somner, click here.  

What is The Bredesen Protocol

The Bredesen protocol is twenty-first century medicine, answering the question of why does someone develop Alzheimer’s dementia in the first place.  What Dr. Bredesen found after years of research in the lab is that there is a metabolic switch in the brain.  That switch can be flipped to the side where it causes neuronal damage and cell death or it can be switched to the side that causes neuronal growth and development. 

 

What Dr. Bredesen did was study Alzheimer’s disease in the lab to fully understand the underling physiological mechanisms.  Then he looked for a way to address those mechanisms clinically.  The result is the Bredesen protocol.  The Bredesen protocol is an individualized, comprehensive program that is specially designed by the physician to address the specific root causes of the type of Alzheimer’s disease the patient has.

The most unique concept that Dr. Bredesen’s research discovered is that the single medication treatment approach is not effective.  What he discovered is that an entire program is necessary.  He thinks about it like a roof with 36 holes.  A single treatment will patch one hole in the roof.  But that leaves the other 35 holes wide open.  A full program will address 10-15 holes in the roof which is enough to cause the whole system to “flip a switch” and close the holes.

The switch that Dr. Bredesen found is called the APP, amyloid precursor protein.  The protein sits on the membrane of the cell and waits to be told what to do.  When it is cleaved into smaller pieces from one side, it causes the formation of amyloid which causes the neurons to breakdown.  When it is cleaved on the other side it causes the neurons to grow and form new connections and no amyloid is formed.  A healthy brain has a good balance between the two; an unhealthy brain loses that balance to the side that causes a breakdown in neuronal connections and growth.

The Bredesen protocol is designed to identify what factors are making your switch cause the breakdown of neurons and then to cause the switch to flip to the other side.  Often there are 10-15 triggers that cause the APP to flip to the breakdown side.  These triggers can be addressed and the process of destruction can be stopped and reversed.  Which triggers are flipping you particular switch to the destructive side determines which sub type of Alzheimer’s dementia is at play.  The majority of the triggers can be stopped by lifestyle changes including diet, exercise, stress management and the correction of biochemical imbalances.

Dr. Bredesen identified subtypes of Alzheimer’s disease.  The sub types reflect what causes the cognitive decline. The treatment program is designed to address the particular sub type you have. There are five sub types of Alzheimer’s dementia which have been identified so far.  This is the reason that a single medication is ineffective.  A full, personalized program is necessary because treatment depends on what sub type or sub types the patient has.  The five types are: Type 1 ‘Hot’ or inflammatory; Type 1.5 ‘Glycotoxic’; Type 2 ‘Trophic’Type 3 ‘Vile’ or toxic; Type 4 is ‘Pale; Type 5 is ‘Traumatic.