ReCODE protocol

Gramps

My primary care physician has recommended the book "The End Of Alzheimer's", Dale Bredesen, MD.  I am interested in pursuing this non-traditional approach to peerhaps reversing Alzheimer's.  Has anyone out there had experience with it?

mommyandme (m&m)

I have not.  Looks like he’s also selling some pills too.  

hmmmm

NylaBlue

I researched this for my DH several years ago. Supposedly they had a number of physicians “trained” in the protocol, but one had to pay an annual fee (over a thousand dollars) up front to see the list, get a referral or view other information on their site. They also sold supplements and tests required to implement the Bredeson Protocol. 

It didn’t add up for us, so we passed. 

jfkoc

His protocol comes up here speriodically.  My feeling is that if it were really successful it would be way better known.

If I remember correctly the protocol invovles good neutrition etc. Nothing harmful and who couldn't benefit from a healthy diet and exercise.

Iris L.

There are many threads about Dr Bredesen and his followers.  I'm surprised the PCP recommended.  Read the threads and you will know more than the PCP.

Iris L.

M1

Be suspect of anyone who is trying to sell you anything. Period.

GothicGremlin

When my sister was first diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's my brother went all in on the Bredesen protocols. As part of that, I've read the book.

Part of what is in the book is good (but nothing new) - exercise, get good sleep, and have a good diet. It's essentially the best practices that everyone here talks about. If I'm remembering correctly Bredesen likes the keto diet. Most recommend the Mediterranean or MIND diet, not a keto diet, but if you're looking to lose weight, the keto diet will probably do it. My sister lost a lot of weight - it did nothing for her Alzheimer's however.

It seems to me, and after much reading, that what isn't said (in his book, in discussions about the protocols, etc.) is what's important. He talks about "early stages" without defining it, and what it seems he means is the mild cognitive impairment stage (MCI). So, what looks like a reversal of Alzheimer's isn't actually reversal of Alzheimer's, it's keeping the person in the MCI stage, and possibly slowing the symptoms of MCI. Alzheimer's isn't the same as MCI.

If you're coming to this new, like I was at the time, you might not realize the difference between the "early stages", or not realize (like I didn't), that there is actually a mild cognitive impairment stage.

Needless to say, I was put off by the whole thing. I was also put off by the scammy pieces of the protocols. If you go through the recode/reverse site, they really, really, really want you to sign up for their newsletter, which costs $75 a month, and a minimum of a year subscription (at least that's what it was a few years ago). They also really want you to sign up with one of their practitioners, who tend to be nutritionists or some profession like that. That's another ~ $5,000 a month (I did the math). My brother hounded me to do this for our sister, and I put my foot down and said absolutely not.

So... that was my experience, fwiw.

Stuck in the middle

A local neurologist is into that.  A friend went to him for anterolateral sclerosis residuals, and he wanted about $10,000 (not covered by insurance) for physical therapy, nutrition, supplements, etc.  She bought his book (a knock-off of Dr. Bredesen's), read it, and decided to buy a Mustang convertible and go to water aerobics classes instead.

mommyandme (m&m)

see Stuck,

There it is again!  Thank you!

Lane Simonian

A mustang convertible and water aerobics classes seems like a pretty good use of money.

I have long thought Dr. Bredesen was on the right path but still a little off.  He surmises that there are likely 40 different potential causes of Alzheimer's disease, but the time and money that needs to be spent in trying to determine which one or ones is responsible for someone's Alzheimer's disease is a long, expensive, and arduous road.

I have several favorite quotes about Alzheimer's disease, but this is near the top of the list.

Dr Carrasco and his team think a clinical trial of anti-fungal drugs is the next logical step. But there is yet another possibility. In the absence of a definitive ultimate cause, it may be that the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can arise from many different types of insult to the brain. There have been several papers, says Dr Le Guillou, that have found correlations between various infectious organisms and Alzheimer's. "It could be a bit like the Mississippi river," says Dr Hardy. "You can start in all sorts of places, but eventually you're going to end up in New Orleans." If Alzheimer's is a general response to all sorts of neurological triggers then it may be that the fungal infections found by Dr Carrasco are simply one of a long list of causes.

Once you get past a certain point, removing the initial triggers is not going to do much good: instead of focusing on the beginning of the Mississippi River you have to focus at the end of the river.  

The initial triggers all cause oxidative stress and reversing the damage caused by this stress is both the key to delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease and largely stabilizing the disease.

From a recent study:

Antioxidants to prevent Alzheimer's disease

A balanced intake of antioxidants could prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease.

In the Bredesen protocol, there is a long list of supplements to take in addition to dietary changes. Most of these act as antioxidants.  But the best antioxidants come from plants such as panax ginseng/Red Korean ginseng.

Improvement of Cognitive Deficit in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients by Long Term Treatment with Korean Red Ginseng

So Dr. Bredesen is right that multiple factors cause Alzheimer's disease and that at least some antioxidants can be used to treat the disease, but he overcomplicated things by trying to get to the root of every different case and by not focusing on the most powerful antioxidants.

SupportHubby

> @Gramps said:
> My primary care physician has recommended the book "The End Of Alzheimer's", Dale Bredesen, MD.  I am interested in pursuing this non-traditional approach to peerhaps reversing Alzheimer's.  Has anyone out there had experience with it?

I just received the book last week and read it cover to cover. I have been an engineer for 40 years plus and read 1000's of technical articles. Not medical. The logic from the book that is based on Bredesen articles. His analysis seems to make sense to me. Further I've read lots of skeptics mostly complaining about cost and afraid they may be scammed. After reading the book watching many videos including his talk at Cleveland Clinic the recommendations are not costly and many can be done independently with a good open mind and comprehension of his work. Memantine and Aricept can still be used in concert with supplements,diet and exercise (not to mention getting a sleep study covered by insurance). My wife life is priceless and Im open minded in anything that may help.