Prepare to have your health questions answered here on Safe, Effective, Natural Solutions
with Dr. Todd Binkley, owner of Binkley Healing Center in downtown Ventura.
Now, here's Dr. Todd.
Good afternoon.
I'm Dr. Todd Binkley, board certified doctor of non-force, chiropractic, and practitioner
of functional medicine.
Functional medicine means using standard diagnostic tests that any doctor can do, but most doctors
don't because usually your insurance doesn't want to pay for them, but it's more affordable
than you might imagine to get a result that if you're in a situation where some doctors
told you there's nothing wrong with you or there's nothing that can be done, there often
is by improving your diet, exercising, and supplementing nutrients where identified on
diagnostic evidence-based testing.
The focus of today's talk is again going to be Alzheimer's, the fourth in a series of
shows I've done about dementia in general.
And at the end of the show, time permitting, I'm going to talk about some things, some
specific things that anyone can do to have a fighting chance to give your, to heal your
brain and to give your body a fighting chance to avoid the devastating effects that happen
when your brain deteriorates, when you lose blood flow to your brain, when you lose brain
cells.
One of the most exciting research into this realm that's come out in the past few years
and more recently published in November 2023 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease is the
Bredesen Protocol.
Dr. Dale Bredesen has been studying and developing a much better model for treating people with
dementia and more importantly preventing and reversing dementia because most people wait
until it's too late.
So the problem is standard clinical trials have a single predetermined treatment modality,
meaning there's a pharmaceutical company typically that develops a drug to treat and try to remove
one specific type of basically scar tissue from your brain like beta amyloid plaque or
neurofibular retangles.
The problem as Dr. Bredesen states it, and by the way, who is Dr. Bredesen?
Dale Bredesen MD is an internationally recognized neurologist with special expertise in the
mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases.
He's the senior director of precision brain health at Pacific Neuroscience Institute and
the chief scientific officer at Apollo Health.
He's a neuroscientist, professor and author of several books in the field of neurodegenerative
diseases and he's developed and directed over 30 years of laboratory research focused on
the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
And you can read that on his website just like I just did.
The point is his work is really amazing.
No one else has figured out a way to actually reverse dementia.
The standard drug trials that basically govern what everyone is currently being treated for
everyone in America throughout the Western world, most of the world who has dementia
is being treated with pharmaceutical drugs that don't work because they're only trying
to treat one tiny aspect of complex condition that has at least 200 contributory factors
and dozens of known and well-researched components that are addressable if you address all of
them at the same time and not just one of them with a drug that has side effects and
doesn't even work for its targeted effect.
Where 400 clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a sustained clinical effect.
The best they can do is not show any cognitive improvement at all but or even stabilization
of the dementia but merely reduce the rate of the progression by maybe a third for a
few years.
Is that really good enough?
I don't think so and Dr. Bredesen doesn't think so either.
So the study entitled Precision Medicine for Approach to Alzheimer's Disease Successful
Pilot Project uses a more comprehensive evaluation of each patient's genetics and biomarkers
to try and figure out and optimize a personalized precision medicine protocol for each.
And so this is a study led by three integrative physicians Dr. Kat Toops, Dr. Anne Hathaway
and Deborah Gordon along with Dr. Bredesen.
As mentioned in previous episodes I have had the privilege of seeing live presentations
given by Dr. Toops, Dr. Hathaway and Dr. Bredesen earlier this year just a few weeks ago in
fact and their proof of concept trial included 25 participants aged 50 to 76 all with mild
cognitive impairment pre-Alzheimer's or early stage dementia.
And each patient was assessed for multiple potential contributors such as inflammation,
insulin resistance, nutrient and hormonal deficiencies and specific pathogens, toxins
and genetics and then treated with a personalized protocol that was continued for nine months.
So this proof of concept trial with 25% participants was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's
Disease in 2022 but it began in 2012.
In 21 of the 25 84% showed significant improvement and they still have less cognitive impairment
and dementia than when they started the program over 10 years ago.
Their MRI scans show that after nine months instead of an expected 2.2% shrinkage that
average people have total gray matter the part of the brain where memories are stored
their gray matter actually grew by 0.3% per year and most importantly shrinkage of the
hippocampus.
The hippocampus is the file clerk part of the brain that often goes bad first which
causes this inability to store new memories.
The hippocampus improved by 63% and the people on this protocol.
So study participants had brain MRI scans at the start of the study and after nine months
and they were evaluated by special software that evaluates and I don't want to go too
much into this detail but the bottom line is they're documenting this both with blood
tests and with the standard questionnaires that neurologists use to evaluate cognitive
impairment and Alzheimer's blood tests the questionnaires and MRI scans that actually
show changes in the brain on the scan.
So one of the lead authors on the study Dr. Kat Tubbs noted quote I have been principal
investigator on more than 20 long-term clinical trials for patients with mild cognitive impairment
and dementia where the benchmark for success was merely slowing cognitive decline.
This trial is the first to show actual improvement in multiple domains of functioning as well
as improvements on MRI brain scans.
This is incredible and most people are never going to hear about it because it's not yet
part of the practice of standard medicine.
Most neurologists don't do this.
Most neurologists don't even know about this because they're just focused on the standard
practice of conventional medicine one drug for one condition cross your fingers hope
it works even though 400 times it's failed.
It fails almost every time because there is no single cause for dementia.
It's caused by so many different things and so if you just identify a half a dozen or
even better a dozen of the most common causes of insult to the brain loss of blood flow
insufficient nutrients etc. amazing things can happen including not just the slowing
of dementia but reversal.
So addressing these root causes in this type of functional medicine approach has previously
led to the publication of a case study called reversal of cognitive decline 100 patients.
Email me if you would like the copy of that study it was published in 2018 in the Journal
of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson ism and it outlines the progress of patients in their
50s 60s 70s and 80s over several years on the protocol at six different sites around
the country.
A larger randomized controlled trial is currently seeking participants at sites in Miami Cleveland
Nashville Sacramento and the Sacramento Bay San Francisco pardon me San Francisco Bay
area currently recruiting still recruiting patients for an ongoing trial to find out
more about this go to dementia reversal trial.com.
So this this currently ongoing randomized controlled trial at six sites around the country to find
out more about that and perhaps even enroll in it go to dementia reversal trial.com.
I'm Dr. Todd Binkley you're listening to safe effective natural solutions to almost any
health challenge today we're talking about actually reversing dementia Dr. Anne Hathaway
one of the co-authors on the study with Dr. Bredesen commented quote with this precision
medicine approach I've witnessed person after person regain lost brain function get back
to their life's work reestablish friendships or start new creative activities.
It's very gratifying to share this success publicly can you imagine a world where Alzheimer's
is a rare disease.
Well a lot of things will have to change for that to happen but the point is it's possible
not just theoretical but actually proven with scientific dated data Alzheimer's dementia
is a form of chronic encephalitis inflammation of the brain that was that represents a response
to various insults.
So the goal is with the Bredesen protocol to identify and address all the factors associated
with this complex phenomena and it involves several things.
Number one improve blood flow to the brain with better food exercise and supplements
I'm going to come back to the specifics of each of these in a moment number two reverse
diabetes and pre diabetes mainly with better food exercise sometimes supplements can help
with this number three test for cholesterol and other lesser known and even worse bad
fats and reduce them without drugs without taking statins Lipitor or Torvastatin Simvastatin
etc.
Number four maximize provision of essential nutrients to the brain most doctors never
even think about this when you maximize essential nutrients to the brain with proper testing
for specific deficiencies and eating better food and mostly considering a host of very
well researched and relatively new supplements that most people have never heard of amazing
things can happen and it's different for everyone I can't make any promises but for people that
are looking for something they can do in a situation where no one else is helping them
I've seen some really fascinating things happen number five test for inflammation and reduce
it with better food exercise and supplements we're all subject to causes of inflammation
and these things can be tested for and treated without drugs number six test for autoimmune
conditions and reverse them also obviously with better food exercise and supplements
drugs for autoimmune conditions are essential for people with severe autoimmune conditions
but they don't often work much better than the drugs for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's
number seven test for chronic infections like tick-borne diseases diseases viruses and bad
bacteria in your gut and treat them with nutrients and sometimes when necessary medications sometimes
you do need an antibiotic or an antiviral or some other kind of drug to kill off a bug
and your gut but you don't know that unless you test for it and and that's not the most
certainly not the most common contributor to Alzheimer's disease it's just something
that Dr. Bredesen has included because if someone everyone is different you're as different
on the inside as you are on the outside and one of these things could be a major contributor
to your condition number eight test for toxins that all of us are exposed to to varying degrees
heavy metals like lead mercury uranium cadmium arsenic chemical toxins like pesticides and
chemical fertilizers that we all breathe in from conventional farms nearby that end up
in our drinking water mold toxins that end up stored in our bodies throughout our lives
even from brief exposures to some mold that you maybe saw or maybe never even saw in your
home garage workplace whatever and then once identified establish a specific protocol for
helping your body flush out these toxins safely and effectively so it's understandable if
you've been listening closely to all of those elements of the Bredesen protocol your head
might be spinning now oh my god who could do all of that well it depends on your motivation
your age and what's possible for you everyone is different that's the whole point of getting
precision medicine getting a personalized evaluation so if you come to see me I'm not
going to recommend all of those things for every single patient that's something that
Dr. Bredesen has been able to do and get dramatic results for but it's important to understand
that even those eight things that I just talked about to review improve blood flow to the
brain reverse pre-diabetes and diabetes improve cholesterol and other bad fats maximize provision
of essential nutrients to the brain test for inflammation and reduce it test for autoimmune
conditions and reverse them if possible test for chronic infections and treat them and
test for toxins so not everybody needs all of those things these are things that functional
medicine practitioners address in every patient that comes to our office every day starting
with a simple case history so no one needs necessarily no one on the protocol on the
Bredesen protocol got all of those things no one needs all of those things the point
is it precision medicine means treating the patient not the disease identifying what a
particular person in front of you is missing what's preventing their brain from healing
and repairing itself what's possible to facilitate the reversal of dementia in this person versus
the standard medical protocols that are used to develop all the does all the useless drugs
that people are taking for Alzheimer's that create very temporary slight improvements
and no long-term benefit their goal for a lot of these testings are stated as slowing
decline who wants to slow the decline if you want to reverse it it basically means taking
better care of your health in specific ways which can be identified number one this is
the point of seeing a practitioner of functional medicine the most important test you do is
meeting with someone who does anything other than conventional medical practice and just
prescribing you a drug go to a functional medicine practitioner and get a good case
history and some basic blood tests that's the starting point so simple blood tests and
a good case history can identify what you might need to improve blood flow to your brain
and reverse pre-diabetes and diabetes and your lipid profile your cholesterol levels
and there's a whole bunch a whole host of other fats I don't want to get too much into
that I covered it last month in the cardiovascular podcast but there's a bunch of other bad fats
cholesterol is not a very good test of your heart health or your brain health or any other
aspect of your health there are much better tests that most doctors don't do they're
widely available we'll come back to that or send me an email number four maximize the
provision of essential nutrients to the brain so this is the most important so the first
three you know most doctors do some of that most doctors will prescribe you know tell
you to eat better and exercise good that often doesn't help that much most doctors will put
you on metformin or some other drug to help you with diabetes or pre-diabetes and most
doctors will put you on a statin drug to lower your total and bad cholesterol but you know
those what's the what's the verdict on that it's not it's not that great so maximizing
the provision of essential nutrients to your brain is huge it just it just makes sense
your bloodstream is a river of life construction projects are there's crews waiting on both
river banks just imagine this go with me on this metaphor there's a river of life with
construction crews on both banks waiting for the materials necessary to heal and repair
things that are obviously need repair but if the materials to do the job are not available
then that project just just gets put on hold indefinitely this is what happens with loss
of brain tissue so when you flood your brain when you flood your river of life when you
flood your bloodstream with nutrients that make their way to the brain to provide it
with the nutrients it needs to heal and repair itself even people in their 80s you know it's
i i i only say that because so many people show up in their 80s when they have severe
dementia in my office i'm trying to get you to tell people who are in their 50s and 60s
or even earlier to come in and get tested to find out when we can really get amazing
results and completely completely reverse the devastating effects of dementia i'll come
back to a couple of important tests that we can do that with but just to finish the list
here not everyone has an autoimmune condition not everyone has chronic infections and not
everyone has well actually everyone does have toxins but whether or not they have enough
of them to contribute to mild cognitive impairment or dementia is different for everybody so
those last three things are based on testing and that reticent protocol is based on testing
so if you come to see me i will there are ways that i can find out when you come to
see me with a simple case history and some kinesiology or muscle testing can give me
a good idea which tests would be most important for you or someone you are concerned about
most people wait till they have symptoms so they have memory loss so they have some of
the other symptoms of dementia and this is just normal human behavior i don't want to
you know i'm not trying to blame anybody for this this is what we all do but i'm just trying
to encourage you to start earlier if you have a family history of dementia definitely get
tested early get the APOE gene test which you can get through lab core or quest for
seven or eight hundred dollars or maybe you can get your insurance to cover it if you
can get any doctor affiliated with your insurance company to order it for you or you can get
it for 150 bucks through 23andme and even more importantly well or as importantly there's
an there's a relatively new test or at least the research on it substantiating its value
was just published in the journal of american medical association in january of this year
to be as accurate as much more invasive cerebral spinal fluid testing so usually you had to
go in and get a spinal tap to see if you had this particular tau protein in your body indicative
of the damage this scar tissue basically that forms in your brain to identify early dementia
as early as possible so that you can start treating it earlier and it's called p tau
217 and here's a study that was published in jamma the average age of the 786 participants
was 66 years old and the study suggested that it would be valid for predicting risk and
people much younger than this as accurately as having a much more invasive spinal tap
so and again unfortunately most doctors don't order this test you can always ask if you
have a great relationship with your doctor and your doctor is young especially and even
more so a woman i'll be sexist there i said it women doctors are more likely to be progressive
in my experience than old white guys like me and these tests that can identify early
signs of dementia early enough to treat them with better food exercise and supplements
are are things like p tau 217 p is in paul t a u 217 the one i just spoke of and also
p tau 181 phosphorylated tau proteins these are basically proteins that identify scar
tissue that is beginning to form in the brain as a result of normal brain cell turnover
they're not it's not like identifying a bacteria or some kind of infection these are things
that are always present they're a function of normal brain cell turnover but if they're
elevated then it gives you an indication and hopefully a motivation to do something different
so i can order these tests for a little over 200 dollars through lab core it really should
be available and covered by insurance by your general practitioner but i'm providing this
information for those who are frustrated or properly motivated and can't get it ordered
these tests are available and extremely useful for identifying is it worth the expense and
will they motivate you to change your lifestyle to eat better food and exercise more and maybe
take a few supplements to to flood your brain with the nutrients it needs to heal itself
you've been listening to safe effective natural solutions to almost any health challenge and
early cognitive impairment and dementia is one of the greatest challenges for so many
people i'd love an opportunity to identify the specific ways that someone you are concerned
about could potentially reverse the effects of dementia email me with your questions and
please tune in next friday at 4 p.m right here on kdar 98.3 fm have a fantastic weekend
you've been listening to safe effective natural solutions with dr. tod binkley if you have
a health question you want discussed on the show email your health questions to dr. binkley
at binkley healing center dot com take advantage of this opportunity to ask questions for yourself
and for your loved ones because our health matters join him next friday at 4 p.m for
safe effective natural solutions right here on 98.3 the word kdar