When I tell my story, I'm often met with skepticism. And why shouldn't people doubt me? The concept in popular culture about Alzheimer's disease is that it is genetic, with a steady, inevitable progress to the grave. Most people have known someone, likely in their own family, who developed the disease and followed that seemingly inevitable path of memory and cognitive degeneration. I don't mind telling you that I sometimes wonder myself ... until I recall how my life was in 2015 and 2016. So, is my story credible? Am I somehow unique?
I recently came across this article in the New York Post about two people who claimed to have "reversed" their biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease through changes in diet and exercise. Sound familiar? The article references a documentary series on CNN about Alzheimer's disease, which, in turn, highlights research by the well-known diet doctor, Dr. Dean Ornish. The series is narrated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Ornish has been conducting research in how lifestyle changes can influence the advance of Alzheimer's disease, and he is now publishing his results.
The key to understanding the evidence (and the skepticism about our experience) is to recognize that the role of lifestyle is only obvious following significant and often difficult changes in lifestyle. Some people are already living well and/or do not have any predisposing characteristics. Others have genetic markers and/or have poor habits regarding exercise and diet. But it's rare to see someone change their lifestyle and record how it affects memory and cognition.
Ornish uses the phrase "for the first time" regarding his research on reversing Alzheimer's disease, without giving due to the FINGER study, which we hope will be confirmed by the US POINTER study. Of course, as we pointed out in Beating the Dementia Monster, Dr. Dale Bredesen also claims credit for reversing Alzheimer's disease "for the first time." I won't claim to be "for the first time;" I'll say instead that I have company.
I'd like to say I have a lot of company, but I don't have enough. My mission at this point in my life is to encourage as many people as possible to change how they live, hoping they will be happier and more productive.
In Gupta's series, one thing he did was travel to Okinawa where the longest lived people in the world live. He hoped to find out what in their diet causes their longevity. He may be wasting his time. Many people in Hawaii who identify as Japanese are of Okinawan heritage. After living in American culture for generations, they are consuming as much pizza and McDonald's as anyone. My wife is of Okinawan ancestry, the youngest of eight. We visited Hawaii a couple of months ago and spent some time with her oldest brother. At 91, he still plays golf twice a week. It seems to me that (if Alzheimer's doesn't interfere) it's genetic makeup causing Okinawans to live long lives.
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