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Brain inflammation sows the seeds of Alzheimer’s
- vfc1 9y agoA plant-based diet is naturally anti-inflammatory and thought to be a great way to prevent and help reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TLzNi5fYd8E6GHQcmIWYGE7vDP97529 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TLzNi5fYd8E6GHQcmIW... I wonder if Alzheimer, just like heart disease and diabetes is mostly a western diet-related disease.
- kirykl 9y agoWhy Western diet? Cultures other than western eat meat
- ben_w 9y agoWestern diets have more meat and less plant material. Meat consumption (and plant consumption) isn’t boolean-valued, unlike (for example) vegetarianism.
- nugget 9y agoIn this context I wonder whether the problem is meat per se, or the heavily processed nature of much of the meat consumed in the West.
- keenerd 9y agoModern "western" meat is very lightly processed compared to what we were eating a hundred years ago. Refrigeration has removed the need for carcinogenic preservatives and has nearly eliminated stomach cancer.
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- reasonattlm 9y agoThere is a range of research to suggest that Alzheimer's is a metabolic disorder with high level similarities to type 2 diabetes. You might look up "type 3 diabetes" - which is not an official designation, but sufficiently discussed in the research community and associated with Alzheimer's disease that when a different form of (definitely) age-related diabetes was discovered recently, it had to be called type 4. Equally, don't look for single causes. There are multiple contributing factors, all of which interact with one another, and many of which have multiple causes. E.g. amyloid buildup can be in part failure of clearance by immune cells, in part failure of drainage of cerebrospinal fluid through the cribiform plate, in part generation by lingering spirochete infection, etc.
- justacat 9y agoWell, sugar does cause inflammation, and the western diet is kind of built on sugar
- tkyjonathan 9y agoThats not true. Western diet is build on processed foods - which includes lots of processed sugars and processed fats together. Example, I don't see people eating teaspoons of white granulated sugar all day long. Doughnuts and ice-cream on the other hand...
- cgh 9y agoVegetarian propaganda would say so. But Western societies are far from the biggest meat-eaters out there. Do the Maasai and the Inuit suffer from inordinate rates of Alzheimer’s? The common factor in the diseases you mention is sugar.
- tkyjonathan 9y agoThere are a number of fallacies in your statement. 1) Western societies are large populations that eat meat and eat meat more than other large populations, by far. 2) Inuits live 10 on average less than the local nearby populations and 900 year old Inuit mummies also show signs of advanced osteoporosis. 3) Processed sugar is not a health product and is not the polar opposite of meat. It is in the same category of meat as 'unhealthy' and 'causes inflammation' 4) A whole-foods low-GI plant-based diet has been show to open up arteries and that is important for Alzheimers as people with that disease do show blocked arteries to the brain post-mortem. So while not a 100% prevention, it certainly reduces risk and may even reverse issues.
- hycaria 9y agoThe "pro meat" (or should I say "meat health and environmental damage negationists") circle jerk on HN is sure strong, looking at your post and below's slowly fading away. I'm amazed everytime how the majority here, people who seem in other conditions able of logical reasoning, are just impermeable to unpleasant facts. You bring up good arguments.
- Danihan 9y agoSo the tens of thousands of people who have successfully used a keto diet to induce autophagy and lose weight are all just.. making it up, in your mind? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/ Maybe you should admit it's a bit more complicated than you seem to realize.
- hycaria 9y ago
- at-fates-hands 9y ago>> I wonder if Alzheimer, just like heart disease and diabetes is mostly a western diet-related disease. Nope. One of the professors I worked with in grad school did some groundbreaking Alzheimer research on Germans from Russia: We have studied 28 kindreds with familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) that are all descended from the ethnic group of Germans from Russia. Eighteen families were of Volga German ancestry, originating from the same two villages and containing 132 demented individuals. These families represent a model of genetic heterogeneity when compared with other reported FAD kindreds. Because of their common, isolated ethnic background, the Volga German families are likely to represent the founder effect and a single, as yet unidentified, autosomal dominant mutation. The Black Sea German kindreds may represent additional heterogeneity. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-46776-9_13 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-46776-9_...
- reasonattlm 9y agoPaper: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25158 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25158 The research noted here improves the understanding of how inflammation acts to drive the progression of Alzheimer's disease, despite being secondary to the well-known deposition of amyloid-β observed in the condition. Alzheimer's disease is considered to be in part an inflammatory condition. Rising levels of chronic inflammation occur with aging, in the brain and elsewhere in the body, and there is plenty of evidence for inflammation to contribute to a good many age-related conditions. The ordering of cause and effect in Alzheimer's is still somewhat up for debate, but there is evidence for the cascade to begin with amyloid-β, that then produces inflammation as the immune cells of the brain react to it, which in turn leads to tau aggregation. The paper here adds nuance to that possible ordering, suggesting that amyloid-β and inflammation form their own feedback loop, spurring one another forward. The immune system of the central nervous system is its own creature, quite different in its details from the immune system of the rest of the body, and arguably much more integrated and necessary for the correct function of the brain than is the case in other organs. Nonetheless, similar classes of age-related dysfunction arise, and inflammation is one of the results regardless of protein aggregation such as the formation of amyloid deposits. Immune cells become overly active, but at the same time less effective at carrying out their assigned tasks. Inflammation is a necessary part of the immune response to many of the issues it might have to deal with, typically those that involve destruction, as as removal of senescent or potentially cancerous cells, and mounting attacks upon the pathogens that constantly try to invade the body and brain. If permanently switched on, however, inflammation begins to disrupt all of the other necessary tasks of the immune system, such as those relating to regeneration or shepherding the correct function of brain cells. For a number of years now, some researchers have departed a little way from the mainstream focus on removal of amyloid-β to consider an anti-inflammatory approach to building therapies for Alzheimer's, but this line of research hasn't made a sizable impact yet. Reducing inflammation in a usefully targeted way is still quite challenging, as the immune system is very complex, though promising noises are emerging from research groups investigating NLRP3 as a target. That also happens to show up in the research here as a part of the connection between immune cells, amyloid, and inflammation.
- aaavl2821 9y agoDo you know much about nlrp3? I read an interesting paper by some investigators who later formed a company called inflazome, but am not sure how the biology or chemistry has evolved since then
- zebrafish 9y agoHow does the brain become inflamed in the first place? Couldn't find that in their write-up.
- julienchastang 9y ago"minor insults to the brain – perhaps a virus or mild injury"
- zebrafish 9y agoThanks! I was just skimming. I wonder if the anti-inflammatory properties of coffee are enough to help ward off AD. Not sure if the phenols interact with the proteins they discuss here.
- bitwize 9y agoDiet. And probably something to do with gut bacteria, which just ties back into diet.
- dsego 9y agoThere's also reportedly a connection with bad teeth.
- SteveCoast 9y ago
- dsego 9y agoExtended results of the Alzheimer's disease anti-inflammatory prevention trial (2011) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21784351 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21784351
- raphar 9y agoSo it is useless to consume ibuprofen and the like, to avoid the disease :(
- dsego 9y agoFrom my own research (ie googling), your best bet is to build up the brain, so if the decline starts, you have a stronger starting point. This means exercise[1], B12, folate, CDP-choline[2], turmeric[3], coconut oil (medium chain triglycerides) [4]. Also, I avoid paracetamol, there are some claims about it being linked to dementia. There are some promising drug trials (aducanumab for example), but we'll have to wait and see. [1]https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicoline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicoline [3]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781139/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781139/ [4]https://coconutketones.com https://coconutketones.com
- joshuas 9y agoparacetamol is acetaminophen(Tylenol) for the Americans in the audience.
- bigtex 9y agoHere is a great talk from a doctor who has had success in reversing Alzheimer's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D5aA_-3Ip8&list=WL&index=20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D5aA_-3Ip8&list=WL&index=20
- dsego 9y agoThe Bredesen protocol probably slows the decline, but I doubt that it reverses the disease.
- randomerr 9y agoThe reversal seems more along the lines of the effects of the disease + side effects of the previous drug(s). Although if the new treatment stops the damage to the brain then over the course of years, not weeks or months, I could see a recovery of functionality.
- mhkool 9y agoBredesen has published about the reversal and with the small sample of 10 patients showed full reversal in 9 patients. There is no doubt at all when you read that patients were extremely forgetful, unable to do their job and unable to learn a new language were completely opposite after the short treatment: good memory, able to do the old job, and having pleasure learning a new language. Bredesen followed the 9 patients for 4 years after the treatment and there is no new decline. The treatment is a true cure. There is nothing magical. Inflammation makes a mess of a brain and a healthy body is able to recuperate from almost any disease.
- e40 9y agoA tl;dr would be nice. That's an hour+ video.
- dsego 9y ago[Edit] From the video description: Dr. Bredesen sees Alzheimer’s disease,- as an imbalance rather than a toxicity resulting in amyloid beta plaques which block nerve cell signaling and lead to memory loss. Among the measures he recommends: - A diet that eliminates processed foods and other unhealthy ingredients, and boosts fruits, vegetables and healthy fish - Stress reduction with meditation, yoga, music or other means - Eight hours of sleep a night - At least 30 minutes of exercise four to six times a week - Very good oral hygiene - Improvement of gut health with probiotics and prebiotics - Fasting for 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, and three hours or more between dinner and bedtime, to keep insulin levels low Published in the September Journal Aging, he did a study on ten patients. Nine of the 10 patients improved. The one patient who did not improve was in the late stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. --- Additional info Reversal of cognitive decline: A novel therapeutic program https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4221920/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4221920/
- pmc1 9y agoThe keys to anti-aging and anti-brain degradation are daily intermittent fasting, plant/fruit based diet, low sodium, low fatty foods, and low stress. Many monks in the far east follow this and live well into their 120s
- tree_of_item 9y agoNo they don't live well in to their 120s. You just made that up.
- 1undo 9y ago> "In fact, it is not uncommon for a Tibetan monk to live to 120 years of age" Just one of many sources its very well documented that monks live very long lives. Not sure why hes being downvoted. blog.peterbaksa.com/post/9719815756/tibetan-monks-my-lama-temple-interviews
- Danihan 9y agoIt's totally true.. links to Law of Attraction blog Come on now.
- tree_of_item 9y agoHe's being downvoted because it's not true. The oldest person on record was 122. If there were a bunch of Tibetan monks walking around at 120+ we'd know about it.
- 1undo 9y agoMany eastern tibetan monks claim to be 120+ years old. Due to the nature of their lives its very hard to document birth to death. Of course people deny it because its not "on record." likely due to longevity bias that humans naturally have. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_myths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_myths
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- emersonrsantos 9y agoIt's interesting medicine would pursue this symptom in determining brain and nervous system problems - inflammation has been linked to depression, suicidal thinking and other mental disorders in recent research.
- jklinger410 9y agoInflammation seems to be at fault for a whole host of huge medical problems. The problem is that this is not illuminating. It's like saying that the reason your car blew a rod is because it had no oil in it. Okay, cool, but why didn't it have oil? Inflammation is the body's first step in "repairing" a problem. Often times, like with cancer, the body fucks up the repair. So inflammation "causes" so many disorders, but what causes the inflammation? Saying inflammation causes anything is seemingly clickbait at this point.