5 ms·

This is a press release about a primary research finding. We need to see whether or not this study, which even the press release calls "small," will replicate o

This is a press release about a primary research finding. We need to see whether or not this study, which even the press release calls "small," will replicate or not. I would be the first person here to cheer a genuine advance in preventing or treating Alzheimer disease (I am older than most of you are), but I have learned after 2145 days of participation on Hacker News that most press releases about medical breakthroughs kindly submitted for discussion on Hacker News never replicate and don't lead to any lasting productive paths in research. As for the lifestyle recommendations numbered in another comment here, I (1) eat some simple carbohydrates, but have avoided obesity; (2) eat some (but not a lot) of gluten and processed food, but especially eat plenty of vegetables and fruits (and a little bit of fish); (3) reduce stress through means other than yoga; (4) do not meditate, having checked the evidence on this practice and found it wanting; (5) do not take melatonin; (6) usually attempt to sleep 7-8 hours per night; (7) take vitamin B12, but not usually in the form of methylcobalamin; (8) take vitamin D3 each day; (9) take fish oil each day; (10) never take CoQ10; (11) optimize my oral hygiene using an electric flosser and electric toothbrush; (12) don't take hormone replacement therapy (I'm not a woman, and I have plenty of testosterone); (13) fast for a minimum of 9 hours between dinner and breakfast, and for a minimum of 1 hour between dinner and bedtime; (14) and exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes three or four times a week. I do the most of the things on the list that have the best evidence base. I check the evidence all the time about what the latest treatment-control studies say about healthy lifestyle. Good luck to all of you desiring to keep healthy minds for a long life. That begins with being skeptical about press releases about preliminary research findings.

dreamweapon 12y ago
(4) do not meditate, having checked the evidence on this practice and found it wanting; But have you personally tried it? The most important "evidence" may be how it affects you, personally. In any case I'd be curious as to what your general assessment is on the body of studies claiming to show (apparently positive) impacts of sustained meditation practie, e.g. the following: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-improves-connections-in-the-brain-201104082253 http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-im...
- doorhammer 12y ago
  > But have you personally tried it? The most important "evidence" may be how it affects you, personally. It sounds lame to say, but I agree here. I fairly consistently meditate. I don't spend more than five or ten minutes doing so, but regardless of whether or not it increases an objective measure of my health, I do feel that it's provided me with some positive mental tools for approaching certain situations. As an example for me is that I used to be pretty anxious about falling asleep, and I think it caused it to be more difficult to fall asleep. Some of the insight meditation practices helped me deal with the anxiety feedback loop. It wasn't something crazy or mystical; I mostly just learned how to stop thinking about something, and was able to stop thinking about the anxiety. Honestly, I don't think I fall asleep any faster, but I do find that I just don't care anymore because the anxiety isn't there. I continue with it because it's pretty easy to carve out five or ten minutes here and there. I have no idea if it's causing any long term health benefits. Subjectively I feel more relaxed right after I meditate, but that's about it. Honestly, I'd keep doing it just because it feels nice. I don't do any crazy postures or full lotus, or anything like that, so it seems like there's a low likelihood of it causing harm. My two cents
  - cturner 12y ago
    Maybe it's more important to maintain a state of mind where you could quickly relax into a period of no-thought, than to actually spend a lot of time in no-thought. Regular exposure makes you aware of when you're spending long periods in a stressful state of mind.
    - doorhammer 12y ago
      Yeah; I think I see what you're saying and I agree. Subjectively this seems to be the benefit for me. It seems to allow myself to reset to an almost default cognitive state when I recognize certain negative emotions/stress.
SEJeff 12y ago
I was taking fish oil supplements daily until my Nephrologist suggested I don't. He pointed to some recent proper clinical trials that showed it not doing much of anything: http://www.berkeleywellness.com/supplements/other-supplements/article/omega-3-supplements-question http://www.berkeleywellness.com/supplements/other-supplement... In addition to that, if you're taking liquid supplements (like gel caps, which I was), my doc told me that there is risk that it has oxidized and can actually cause cardiovascular damage. After that and a weekend of reading up on the internet, I decided to stop taking any fish oil supplements. Do the research yourself and make an educated guess.
- omegaworks 12y ago
  > risk that it has oxidized Always worth it to bite down on a couple pills every so often and check. Use those rancid sensors built in by nature. It's oil after all. If it tastes bad, it's gone bad.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
marze 12y ago
Wow, what an incredibly lame response. Everyone knows small studies may not be replicable, what else does this comment add? Reversing effects of Alzheimer's is incredibly rare, so doing so in a scientific and carefully observed manner is newsworthy. I've previously known of only two individuals who've had the disease being reversed of the millions who suffer from it, anyone can correct me if they know of others. This is a terrible disease, so all progress is welcome. If society was interested in discovering a means to reverse it, the answer is actually simple. Take a few thousand patents (there are millions, not a problem to come up with this many), and randomly divide them into groups of 200 and assign them to teams of researchers who can use any combination of nutrients, diet, approved drug, etc. Offer a prize of $100M to the team with the treatment that works best and smaller amounts to runners up. Then repeat every two years.
capkutay 12y ago
Can you elaborate on 5? I've had good experiences using melatonin to periodically correct my sleep cycle
poopchute 12y ago
Could you expand on point (5) re: melatonin? I take it probably 6 nights a week due to dexadrine

dreamweapon 12y ago

(4) do not meditate, having checked the evidence on this practice and found it wanting; But have you personally tried it? The most important "evidence" may be how it affects you, personally. In any case I'd be curious as to what your general assessment is on the body of studies claiming to show (apparently positive) impacts of sustained meditation practie, e.g. the following: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-improves-connections-in-the-brain-201104082253 http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-im...

doorhammer 12y ago
> But have you personally tried it? The most important "evidence" may be how it affects you, personally. It sounds lame to say, but I agree here. I fairly consistently meditate. I don't spend more than five or ten minutes doing so, but regardless of whether or not it increases an objective measure of my health, I do feel that it's provided me with some positive mental tools for approaching certain situations. As an example for me is that I used to be pretty anxious about falling asleep, and I think it caused it to be more difficult to fall asleep. Some of the insight meditation practices helped me deal with the anxiety feedback loop. It wasn't something crazy or mystical; I mostly just learned how to stop thinking about something, and was able to stop thinking about the anxiety. Honestly, I don't think I fall asleep any faster, but I do find that I just don't care anymore because the anxiety isn't there. I continue with it because it's pretty easy to carve out five or ten minutes here and there. I have no idea if it's causing any long term health benefits. Subjectively I feel more relaxed right after I meditate, but that's about it. Honestly, I'd keep doing it just because it feels nice. I don't do any crazy postures or full lotus, or anything like that, so it seems like there's a low likelihood of it causing harm. My two cents
- cturner 12y ago
  Maybe it's more important to maintain a state of mind where you could quickly relax into a period of no-thought, than to actually spend a lot of time in no-thought. Regular exposure makes you aware of when you're spending long periods in a stressful state of mind.
  - doorhammer 12y ago
    Yeah; I think I see what you're saying and I agree. Subjectively this seems to be the benefit for me. It seems to allow myself to reset to an almost default cognitive state when I recognize certain negative emotions/stress.

SEJeff 12y ago

I was taking fish oil supplements daily until my Nephrologist suggested I don't. He pointed to some recent proper clinical trials that showed it not doing much of anything: http://www.berkeleywellness.com/supplements/other-supplements/article/omega-3-supplements-question http://www.berkeleywellness.com/supplements/other-supplement... In addition to that, if you're taking liquid supplements (like gel caps, which I was), my doc told me that there is risk that it has oxidized and can actually cause cardiovascular damage. After that and a weekend of reading up on the internet, I decided to stop taking any fish oil supplements. Do the research yourself and make an educated guess.

omegaworks 12y ago
> risk that it has oxidized Always worth it to bite down on a couple pills every so often and check. Use those rancid sensors built in by nature. It's oil after all. If it tastes bad, it's gone bad.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

marze 12y ago

Wow, what an incredibly lame response. Everyone knows small studies may not be replicable, what else does this comment add? Reversing effects of Alzheimer's is incredibly rare, so doing so in a scientific and carefully observed manner is newsworthy. I've previously known of only two individuals who've had the disease being reversed of the millions who suffer from it, anyone can correct me if they know of others. This is a terrible disease, so all progress is welcome. If society was interested in discovering a means to reverse it, the answer is actually simple. Take a few thousand patents (there are millions, not a problem to come up with this many), and randomly divide them into groups of 200 and assign them to teams of researchers who can use any combination of nutrients, diet, approved drug, etc. Offer a prize of $100M to the team with the treatment that works best and smaller amounts to runners up. Then repeat every two years.

capkutay 12y ago

Can you elaborate on 5? I've had good experiences using melatonin to periodically correct my sleep cycle

poopchute 12y ago

Could you expand on point (5) re: melatonin? I take it probably 6 nights a week due to dexadrine