Treating Neurodegenerative Diseases--a new approach
August 28, 2010 at 5:27pm
Here's a wonderful piece on a new way of treating brain diseases---a preventative/diagnostic approach rather than a search for a specific pharmaceutical cure--although this piece focuses on Alzheimer’s, I believe the logic behind preventative measures for brain health apply to all neurological diseases.
"While the search for a pharmaceutical cure plays front and center, quietly in the background countless neuroscientists worldwide have concluded that Alzheimer's, as well as memory decline and other age-related dementias are actually slow-developing chronic diseases, like heart disease and cancer, partly dependent on lifestyle and other treatable diseases.
De la Torre, for example, is convinced that Alzheimer's and dementia are particularly tied to cardiovascular factors, notably, constricted blood flow to brain cells, and that midlife screening to detect and correct such heart-related deficits would help prevent much brain degeneration during aging.
The special journal issue produced by de la Torre, called "Basics of Alzheimer's Disease Prevention," also included new research on the relationship between Alzheimer's and diabetes, high blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol and cholesterol- lowering drugs, (statins), a Mediterranean diet, exercise, fish oil, B vitamins and antioxidants.
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