Archived News of the Week

A Cure for Dementia, mTORS, and Cholesterol

The easy, cheap prevention (and cure) for dementia: Dr. Mary Newport's husband was only in his 50's when he started his mental decline. His MRI showed clinical signs of Alzheimer's with a shrunken amygdala and hippocampus. Sometimes he couldn't tie his shoes or remember how to get water out of the refrigerator, do simple addition (he was an accountant) or use a calculator and he was fast becoming unable to feed himself. He was on a variety of the well known Alzheimer's drugs, like Aricept, Namenda and Exelon plus Lexipro and Wellbutrin for his depression. After observing him for months, Dr. Newport - in what I can only say was one of those wonderful epiphanies that come straight from God's mouth - thought that Medium Chain Triglyceride oils (MCT's) might show some promise in at least making him a bit more normal.

He drew clock faces, a typical test for brain derangement. He drew them before starting the MCT's, after 2 weeks and again after 37 days of starting on the MCT-rich coconut oil. You wouldn't believe his drawings, but I will try to explain the visuals to you. The first clock face he drew before starting on the MCT's was utterly deranged, with no numbers, not even a circle denoting the roundness of a clock - it looked like a two year olds first drawing. After two weeks on MCT's, the clock face was a circle but with too many spokes going every which way and no numbers, but definitely an improvement over pre-MCT drawings. But after 37 days on the MCT oil, his clock was round, with 12 spokes and with the correct numbers at the end of the spokes, 12 at the top and 6 at the bottom. His brain was working again and it was obvious and he continues to improve, months after the starting of the MCT oils.

First thing I did was draw a clock. Twelve at the top, 6 at the bottom. O.K. with this one. Whew. Dodged that bullet. While I was at it, I also practiced counting backwards from 100 by 7's. Uh Oh. Still need some help with that one. Third thing I did was go (i.e. drive like a maniac) to Whole foods where I bought a jar of Artisana Organic Coconut Butter. I take at least one teaspoon a day and sometimes 2. Why not? What do we have to lose? Dr. Newport's - she is a neonatal doctor, by the way, not a gerontologist - husband started on 4 teaspoons a day of coconut oil and now takes 7 t's so I figure 1-2 t. should be a good preventive to keep the rusting wheels turning a bit more smoothly as I age.

mTOR Activators: I know. mTOR sounds to me like a prehistoric raptor from the new Spielberg TV show (my guilty pleasure) Terra Nova. But, mTOR stands for mammalian target of rapamycin and no, it's not really important that you memorize that. However, you don't want anything messing with your mTORs because, if your mTOR pathways are disregulated, this will lead to accelerated aging and early mortality. Do I have your attention now? What you really want to know is how to make your mTOR pathways as spunky as a 20 year old tri-athlete, right? It involves fasting, high intensity exercise and the intake of branch-chain amino acids. Here is how to do it: Perform some sort of high intensity exercise in the morning, maybe 5 minutes to a ½ hour - not long - but don't eat anything before hand. This is the fasting part. High intensity exercise will vary from person to person and depends on age. What I consider high intensity at my age, a 40 year old would laugh at, so figure what will really push you and do it on an empty stomach.

Then right after you do your short, high intensity workout, take some BBCA's which can be just an amino acid mix containing leucine, isoleucine and valine. Or, you could do your amino acid mix with a good grass-fed, non-denatured whey protein which also contains BBCA's. These BBCA's will promote the growth of human growth hormone (HGH), healthy muscle growth and recovery, and fat burning.

Some other items which can help modulate your mTORs in a good way are epigallocatechin gallate or ECGC (the good antioxidant from green and black tea), caffeine used in moderation, theobromine which is in tea and chocolate, curcumin (in turmeric) and resveratrol (in grapes and wine). So have a cup of tea with your whey-BBCA drink after a fasting, short high intensity exercise and your mTORS will be very happy.

Women and Cholesterol: I don't even get my levels done anymore, mostly because I am so convinced that an elevated cholesterol level has nothing to do with heart attacks or strokes. There are other more important lab tests to do to measure your cardiac risk, like homocysteine and hs-CRP. Secondly, I am tired of the MD's yelling at me about not agreeing to take statin drugs, with one actually implying that I was stupid. Sort of like the radiation doc who actually did call me "stupid" almost 30 years ago when I refused radiation for breast cancer...

I could liken it to a salmon swimming upstream, this high cholesterol issue, and I refuse to beat my poor head against the rocks anymore. Some would like to say I am like the ostrich with my head in the sand, or that my inopportune (in)actions regarding high cholesterol are like ignoring the red "check engine" light on the dashboard, but my research shows differently and here is the latest I have found.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology looked at 52,087 individuals between the ages of 20 and 74. They found that women with high cholesterol levels (more than 270) had a 28% lower mortality risk than women with low cholesterol (under 193). Risk for heart disease, cardiac arrest and stroke also declined as cholesterol levels rose. Now, Pfizer and their cholesterol propaganda would not want you to see this study, would they? Because they are saying just the opposite. Why do you think Pfizer is panicked about their Lipitor going generic very soon? Because non-generically, it brings them in 8 billion dollars a year. Just follow the money and you will find the truth, most times.

Quote from Abraham: "If you knew everything was really all right, and that it always has a happy ending, then you would not feel trepidacious about your future. Everything is so very all right! If you could believe and trust that, then, immediately everything would automatically and instantly become all right."

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