Alzheimer wonder drug: what to know
Recently the US FDA approved a breakthrough drug for Alzheimer disease. Manufacturers of Aduhelm (aducanumab), Biogen claim it will actually reduce amyloid plaques in the brain.
These structures disrupt cognitive and memory function – worsening over time until Alzheimer’s is diagnosed.
Let’s look at the facts so far.
Amyloid plaques are sticky lumps of protein which slowly build up between nerve cells – disrupting neural signals (memory loss, cognitive problems) - and lead to ultimate nerve death. The medical position is – these proteins are from ‘unknown causes’.
While the manufacturers claim all Alzheimer patients will benefit – curiously it has only been tested on those in early stage – with mild symptoms.
The new drug is designed to prompt the immune system into dismantling the protein clumps. However there is no evidence this will result in restoration of memory or cognitive function for sufferers … because brain damage inflicted by the plaques may be permanent.
Documented side effects of the drug include brain swelling and bleeding on the brain – plus dizziness, falls (risk of bone fractures), confusion and diarrhea.
The drug must be administered via infusion (injection) once a month, intended as a lifetime treatment. Infusion appointments take between one and three hours. Monitoring of brain plaques is also required via regular PET scans or lumbar punctures.
Aduhelm is not yet available in all countries – and costs A$76,000 a year … US$56,000.
Our response
For a pharmaceutical research company, every iota of effort - and every funding dollar goes into producing a treatment: something to reduce symptoms or slow disease progress.
In this case the drug’s mission was to provoke the immune system into reducing and ‘unsticking’ the protein clumps from the nerve cells.
Ø Strikingly - there is no interest in discovering how or why the clumps got there.
My question as always, is … ‘why are we not interested in the cause?
Why and how do amyloid plaques form? Surely whatever they are made of is floating about in the body. And it got there somehow.
Amyloid plaques (yellow) form in the brain and disrupt nerve signals.
Since most research discounts genetic causes, plaques must arise from something we have ingested. Many researchers suggest ‘environmental toxins’.
Of course this includes asbestos, nicotine, air pollution, water contamination, household poisons and others . . . but also food toxins.
While millions of research dollars seek new treatments … other well-established research suggests there is already a much kinder more patient-friendly solution for avoiding brain plaques – and the subsequent dementia.
Move to a low toxin diet.
Dozens of studies now implicate food toxins in the molecular-level injury which characterises neurodegenerative diseases. Still, medicine largely ignores them. What we do know is : some disease comes about due to demyelination of nerve cells: multiple sclerosis (MS), Guillain-Barré syndrome and others.
But there are other mechanisms. Lou-Gehrig disease, or ALS, also known as motor neurone disease (MND) happens because the nerve cells are actually killed off. Huntington’s arises from the action of glutamates[i] on neurotransmitters – leading to chromosomal changes which can be inherited.
Other neurodegenerative disorders appear because amyloid proteins are constantly present in high concentration and make deposits on the brain - plaques: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, epilepsy, Parkinson and Alzheimer disease.
And the actual causes of these dire diseases?
Medicine still says, ‘unknown causes’ and turns straight to medication or surgery.
Four decades of quiet research however, points to poisons - many found in common foods.
Accumulated evidence says - these dreadful incurable diseases could be avoided by choosing different foods.
There is abundant evidence that the appearance of diabetes, dementia, cancers and others is determined by . . . our choices at breakfast lunch and dinner.
While advanced neural damage is difficult to reverse – early intervention with dietary changes has seen good results in autism[ii] and multiple other neurodegenerative diseases[iii].
Our concern is, the medical profession still turns to drugs as the only way to tackle these diseases – even though results are mixed and there are no cures. There is no interest in even looking for the cause.
Our work is to bring this information to the public: that simple changes in diet can stop the arrival of food toxins in the body – and prevent the immune provocation which leads to plaques, demyelination and other bodily damage.
The good news is - moving to a low toxin diet carries none of the risks and spiralling lifestyle issues of long term drugs or surgical procedures.
Know your risks
SELF-ASSESS TEST: Answering a few questions now could make all the difference.
References
[i] Gárdián, G., Vécsei, L. Huntington’s disease: pathomechanism and therapeutic perspectives. J Neural Transm 111, 1485–1494 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-004-0201-4
[ii] Adams JB et al. Comprehensive Nutritional and Dietary Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder-A Randomized, Controlled 12-Month Trial. Nutrients 2018 Mar 17;10(3). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29562612/
[iii] Lee JE, Ryu DW, Kim JS, An JY. Celiac disease presenting as motor neuron disease. Neurol India. 2018 Nov-Dec;66(6):1810-1812. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30504587/
