Alzheimer's Drug treatment, natural alternatives, and Information on nutrition therapy with natural supplements, nutrients and vitamins discussed, is there a way to slow down the progression of this neurological condition?
Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is a progressive disorder characterized by widespread neuronal loss, beta-amyloid deposits in the cerebral blood vessels, development of neuritic plaques and the presence of neurofibrillary tangles. These changes, occurring in the association area of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus and the middle and temporal lobes, are accompanied by decreased concentrations of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and a loss in memory. Recent US census figures suggest that by 2050, the number of people with AD will triple. Elderly people who report being lonely are more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as people who are not lonely.
    A recent report suggests high copper levels in tap water may play a role in causing Alzheimer's disease. Those at risk for Alzheimer's (i.e. family history) may consider drinking distilled water.
 
Natural alternatives to Alzheimer’s drugs and medications
While scientists have not fully determined the actual causes of Alzheimer’s disease, a number of treatment options have been proposed or tried over the years. These include: Exposure to sunlight and sleep pattern restoration Therapy with B vitamins that lower homocysteine levels such as B6, folic acid, and B12. Providing acetylcholine precursors, such as choline or Acetyl-L-carnitine protects against amyloid-beta neurotoxicity and may be helpful in combination with medicines. Providing anti-inflammatory agents such as aspirin or ibuprofen. Blocking the breakdown of acetylcholine with pharmaceutical drugs or natural supplements such as huperzine and the supplement galantamine. Improving blood flow to brain cells. Mood improvement through nutrients and herbs. Use of ginkgo biloba. Use of curcumin, the yellow compound found in turmeric. Muira puama, a Brazilian plant used for sexual enhancement, may also have acetylcholinesterase inhibiting activity. People who ate an average of 180 mg or more a day of DHA, a fatty acid found in fish oils, have less Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, compared with people who consume less DHA, according to epidemiologic data collected in the Framingham Heart Study.

High blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease
Having high blood pressure reduces blood flow in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, making them more vulnerable to the effects of the disease.
   High blood pressure and higher pro-inflammatory cytokine production in middle age are risk factors for AD in old age.

Ginkgo biloba versus Alzheimer's drug - Is a nutritional therapy as good as a drug?
Ginkgo biloba and donepezil: a comparison in the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia in a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study.
Eur J Neurol. 2006 Sep;13(9):981-5. Department of Psychiatry, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
The Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 seems to produce neuroprotective effects in neurodegenerative diseases of multifactorial origin. There is still debate about the efficacy of Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 compared with second-generation cholinesterase inhibitors in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's dementia. Our aim is to assess the efficacy of the Ginkgo biloba special extract E.S. in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type in slowing down the disease's degenerative progression and the patients' cognitive impairment compared with an Alzheimer's drug donepezil and placebo. The trial was designed as a 24-week randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Patients aged 50-80 years, suffering from mild to moderate dementia, were allocated into one of the three treatments: Ginkgo biloba (160 mg daily dose), donepezil (5 mg daily dose), or placebo group.  Our study suggests that there is no evidence of relevant differences in the efficacy of EGb 761 and donepezil in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's dementia, so the use of both substances can be justified. In addition, this study contributes to establish the efficacy and tolerability of the Ginkgo biloba special extract E.S. in the dementia of the Alzheimer type with special respect to moderately severe stages.

Estrogen and Alzheimer's disease
Estrogen pills appear to slightly increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in postmenopausal women, a study found, echoing recent findings involving estrogen-progestin supplements. The findings contradict the long-held belief that estrogen pills can help keep older women’s minds sharp. The results came from a government study called the Women’s Health Initiative and were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The research involved nearly 3,000 women, ages 65 to 79, who had had hysterectomies and had taken daily estrogen-only pills, sold by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as Premarin, for an average of about five years.

Huperzine and Alzheimer's disease
Clinical efficacy and safety of huperzine Alpha in treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease, a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial
Zhang Z,. Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2002 Jul 25;82(14):941-4.
 To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of huperzine Alpha in treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease (AD). Two hundred and two patients with the diagnosis of possible or probable AD from 15 centers the nationwide were randomly divided into two groups: huperzine Alpha group (n = 100, given huperzine Alpha 400 micro g/day for 12 weeks) and placebo group (n = 102 ). A safe and effective medicine, huperzine Alpha remarkably improves the cognition, behavior, and mood in Alzheimer's disease patients.

Alzheimer's Drug options
Neuron and synapse loss together with neurotransmitter dysfunction have, along with Abeta deposition and neurofibrillary tangles, been recognized as hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, clinical and preclinical studies point to neuronal loss and associated neurochemical alterations of several transmitter systems as a main factor underlying both cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Treatment for the cognitive decline in AD, based on early findings of a cholinergic deficit, has been in the clinic for more than a decade but provides only modest benefit in most patients.
   Cholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine are often prescribed as Alzheimer's drugs but these drugs are not curative. In a clinical practice setting, the majority of subjects receiving galantamine maintain their ratings of cognition, function, behavior or global assessment over a 6-month period. However, there is yet no evidence that taking drugs for Alzheimer's disease increases longevity of these patients.

Alzheimer drugs do not delay onset of the disease
Giving Alzheimer's drugs to people with early memory problems does not delay the onset of the disease. Three main drugs -- Aricept, or donepezil; Exelon, or rivastigmine; and Reminyl, or galantamine -- are approved for use in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Using the drugs does not reduce the rate of progression from mild cognitive impairement to dementia. Aricept is marketed by Japan's Eisai Co Ltd and Pfizer Inc, while Novartis AG sells Exelon. Reminyl is sold by Shire Plc and also by Johnson & Johnson under the brand name Razadyne.

Study: Alzheimer's drugs do not stop memory loss
Drugs for Alzheimer's disease, which pharmaceutical companies and campaigners have lobbied the UK government to provide to large numbers of elderly patients with dementia across the country at a cost of over £39m a year, have little effect on their memory and do not stop the distressing deterioration of their lives, according to an important study published July 2004. The five-year study, paid for by the NHS and not the drug companies, found that the drugs are a waste of the scarce resources available for the condition, said the lead re searcher Roger Gray, director of Birmingham University's clinical trials unit.
   When otherwise unexplained, syncope in patients with Alzheimer's disease may be attributed to bradycardia caused by Alzheimer's drugs such as cholinesterase inhibitors.

Antipsychotic Alzheimer drugs
Adverse effects offset advantages in the efficacy of atypical antipsychotic drugs for the treatment of psychosis, aggression, or agitation in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
    Second-generation antipsychotic drugs are no better than placebo -- from a cost-benefit viewpoint -- for treating the psychosis and aggression that can develop in Alzheimer disease patients.

Safer alternatives to Alzheimer's disease drugs
"Alzheimer’s Drugs Offer No Help, Study Finds" was an article in the October 12 issue of New York Times written by Benedict Carey. According to this interesting article, the medicines most commonly prescribed for agitation and delusions in Alzheimer’s disease are no more effective than placebos, and put them at risk of serious side effects, including confusion, sleepiness and Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms. The drugs tested in the study — Zyprexa from Eli Lilly; Seroquel from AstraZeneca; and Risperdal from Janssen Pharmaceutical — belong to a class of medications known as atypical antipsychotics. These drugs are used to treat schizophrenia and other psychoses, and are commonly prescribed for elderly patients in long-term care facilities. About a third of the estimated 2.5 million Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes in the United States have taken the medications. Within the past two weeks, two new studies became available that show the untapped potential of natural supplements in the prevention or treatment of AD. In the first study, 200 patients with AD were given DHA and EPA, the fatty acids found in fish oils, for a period of 6 months. Improvement was noted in patients who had a mild case of AD. A study by researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System show that curcumin, a compound occurring in the spice turmeric, assists the immune system in the clearance of amyloid beta in the brain. Amyloid beta is a substance that accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer's patients to form the plaques that are characteristic of the disease.
   So much time and money has been spent on finding drugs that treat Alzheimer's disease, but as of now the anticholinesterase drugs and the antipsychotics have been quite disappointing. What if all these years, rather than having wasted all this effort on drugs, the focus had been on finding natural ways to prevent or reduce the occurrence of this disturbing condition?

Brain injury as cause of AD
People who suffer a brain injury have a higher-than-normal risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is associated with accumulations of an abnormal protein, amyloid beta, in the brain. Traumatic brain injury triggers accumulation of enzymes required for production of amyloid-beta. Nature Medicine, online March 15, 2009.

Respiratory infections as cause
Catching a cold or the flu increases memory loss in people with Alzheimer's disease. In a study of patients with mild to severe Alzheimer's disease, people who suffered acute or chronic infections, or even bumps and bruises from a fall, were much more likely to have high blood levels of a protein involved in inflammation and also experienced faster memory loss than people who did not have infections and who had low levels of this protein. It's possible that finding a way to reduce inflammation in the body "could be beneficial for people with Alzheimer's disease," reports study chief Dr. Clive Holmes, from the University of Southampton, UK. Over about 6 months, Dr. Clive Holmes measured the cognitive abilities and blood levels the inflammatory protein TNF-alpha of 222 people with Alzheimer's disease. During follow up, roughly half of the study subjects experienced a sudden infection or injury that led to inflammation, and a spike in TNF-alpha levels. These people, experienced memory loss that was at twice the rate of those who did not have infections or injuries. People who had high levels of TNF-alpha in their blood at the beginning of the study, a sign of chronic, ongoing inflammation, had memory loss at four times the rate of those with low levels of the protein at the start of the study. By contrast, subjects with low levels of TNF-alpha throughout the study showed no decline in brain function. Neurology, September 8, 2009.

Difficulty with money management as an early symptom
Problems with basic money management may serve as a sign that an older adult with mild memory impairment will soon progress to Alzheimer's disease, Among older adults with mild mental impairment, difficulty with routine financial tasks -- like balancing a checkbook or using a bank statement -- foretell a greater likelihood of progressing to Alzheimer's over the next year. Neurology, September 22, 2009.

Alzheimer's disease natural therapy emails
Q. I just got Advanced Ginkgo Smart for my mother, who has early stage Alzheimer's disease. Then today I noticed your article on galantamine.  Would it be OK to give her both supplements together, or do they have the same basic function?
   A. Advanced ginkgo contains huperzine which works in a way similar to galantamine, hence it probably is not a good idea to combine them.

Q. I've recently read research for Alzheimer's treatment that suggests a cocktail of DHA, uridine and choline is of benefit. This approach seems to be having success in trials, increasing synapses versus attacking plaques. Have you considered a supplement including these three? Do you have something available which would (taken together) derive these benefits? I believe Alzheimer's is knocking on my door saying, "Let me introduce myself." Very minimal but noticeable change in my cognitive recall.
   A. There are a number of supplements that are potentially helpful in Alzheimer's disease prevention or treatment. Since aging affects each person differently in terms of brain deterioration, it is difficult to come up with a formula that would apply to the majority of older people with Alzheimer's disease or other form of cognitive decline. It may be best to learn how each nutrient is working for you by itself and then combine them for your own personal formula.

Q. I have been reading about carnosine and was wondering which of the two products would you recommend more highly so far as improving Memory / Alzheimers is concerned L Carnosine capsules or Mind Power Rx with L carnosine?
   A. As far as Mind Power Rx or carnosine, it is not possible to know in any one individual which supplement they will respond to, but, as a general rule, formulas that have small amounts of various nutrients will provide a wider variety of these beneficial nutrients to the brain rather than a high amount of one. But each person is unique in their response.

Does the herb tribulus terrestris extract interact with an Alzheimer's drug such as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor?
    We don't suggest taking them the same day.

Here is an interesting article about the possible connection between H. pylori infection and Alzheimer's disease: "Eradication of Helicobacter pylori may be beneficial in the management of Alzheimer’s disease" Infectious agents have been proposed as potential causes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recently, we documented a high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in patients with AD. In the first part of the study, a total of 50 consecutive patients with AD and 30 age-matched anaemic controls underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and gastric mucosal biopsies were obtained to detect the presence of Hp infection by histologic analysis and rapid urease test. Serum anti-Hp-specific IgG level was analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In the second part, Hp-positive AD patients received a triple eradication regimen (omeprazole, clarithromycin and amoxicillin), and all patients were followed up for 2 years, while under the same treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors. Hp was detected in 88% of AD patients and in 46.7% of controls. Hp eradication was successful in 84.8% of treated patients. At the 2-year clinical endpoint, cognitive and functional status parameters improved in the subgroup of patients where Hp eradication was successful but not in the other patients. Hp eradication may positively influence AD manifestations, suggesting a possible common link between Hp and AD." What caught my attention is this statement: "At the 2-year clinical endpoint, cognitive and functional status parameters improved in the subgroup of patients where Hp eradication was successful ..., but not in the other patients. Hp eradication may positively influence AD manifestations, suggesting a possible common link between Hp and AD."