WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.660 Prepare to have your health questions answered 00:00:02.660 --> 00:00:06.620 here on Safe, Effective, Natural Solutions with 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:10.000 Dr. Todd Binkley, owner of Binkley Healing Center 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:15.199 in downtown Ventura. Now, here's Dr. Todd. Good 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:17.140 afternoon. I'm Dr. Todd Binkley, board certified 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:19.440 doctor of non -force chiropractic and practitioner 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.760 of functional medicine. Alzheimer's and other 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:26.420 forms of dementia are always a concern. It's 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:29.079 always a challenge. My constant challenge is 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:31.379 to remind people how important it is to prevent 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:35.079 those things. But what can you do to reduce your 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.299 risk of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia? 00:00:37.380 --> 00:00:40.020 How can you identify your current risk? What 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:43.429 are the factors that are testable? So that you 00:00:43.429 --> 00:00:46.090 can know how important it is for you to do something 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:49.469 now or earlier than others, perhaps. Everyone's 00:00:49.469 --> 00:00:51.969 different. Not everyone is going to get Alzheimer's, 00:00:51.969 --> 00:00:55.229 but far too many people do. And that's always, 00:00:55.409 --> 00:00:58.710 well, often devastating, more so for the family 00:00:58.710 --> 00:01:01.530 members of those who are affected by it than 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:03.549 the person themselves a lot of times. But what 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:06.159 if you've waited too long? What if you've already 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:08.140 been diagnosed or a loved one, your mother, your 00:01:08.140 --> 00:01:10.980 father, your brother, sister, spouse has been 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.439 diagnosed and they can't prevent it. They've 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:15.640 already got it. What are you going to do then? 00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:17.939 I'm very excited to report today that we're going 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.019 to talk about some new research that has shown 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:22.799 something other than the standard drugs that 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.060 often don't work at all or very little at best 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:29.079 to slow the disease. There is some exciting new 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:33.319 research on a common nutrient that can actually 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.609 is very promising for reducing and even reversing 00:01:36.609 --> 00:01:41.790 the things that lead up to loss of memory and 00:01:41.790 --> 00:01:45.510 ability to store new memories that we experience 00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:49.010 as dementia. And there's a host of other nutrients 00:01:49.010 --> 00:01:51.329 that everyone should be taking as they get older, 00:01:51.430 --> 00:01:53.209 or at least test to make sure they're getting 00:01:53.209 --> 00:01:56.109 sufficient amounts of in their diet to dramatically 00:01:56.109 --> 00:01:58.069 reduce their risk of the devastating effects 00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:01.170 of dementia. But before we get into some of these 00:02:01.170 --> 00:02:03.370 specific nutrients that are often missing as 00:02:03.370 --> 00:02:06.109 we get older and specific tests that you can 00:02:06.109 --> 00:02:08.990 run to identify your risk factors, what's most 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:11.669 important, the starting point I always like to 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:14.330 have people consider is anything and everything 00:02:14.330 --> 00:02:17.490 you've heard about reducing your risk of heart 00:02:17.490 --> 00:02:20.870 disease, like exercising, eating a healthy diet, 00:02:21.069 --> 00:02:23.449 and from any functional medicine practitioner, 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:25.129 getting those nutrients. But exercise, I'm going 00:02:25.129 --> 00:02:26.990 to focus on the exercise first because that's... 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:29.000 A lot of people are surprised by that still. 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:32.060 Did you know that you can dramatically reduce 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:35.400 your risk of any chronic degenerative condition 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.979 of the brain? So Alzheimer's, all forms of dementia, 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:42.460 Parkinson's, and virtually any other condition 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:45.300 of the brain. Mood disorders, anxiety, depression, 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.280 schizophrenia, almost anything that affects your 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.939 brain is going to be at least in part as a result 00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:56.419 of lack of circulation. decreasing circulation 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:58.620 of the brain, which results in a deficiency of 00:02:58.620 --> 00:03:01.120 nutrients. Your circulation is what provides 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.800 nutrients to your brain, and your brain is the 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:07.400 most sensitive organ in the body to even slight 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:10.400 minor deficiencies in any nutrients. It's also 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.520 the most sensitive organ to even slight toxicities 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.960 of any kind, which we've talked about in previous 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:17.560 episodes. We'll come back to that. But let's 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:19.539 focus on exercise first. Here's a really exciting 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:22.819 article that just came out. Cycling in midlife. 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:26.889 tied to lower risk of dementia. So this is an 00:03:26.889 --> 00:03:29.750 article that was published by Dr. Lingkai Chen 00:03:29.750 --> 00:03:32.949 in JAMA, Journal of American Medical Association, 00:03:33.289 --> 00:03:36.810 Network Open. And the title of the article is 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:40.090 Active Travel Mode and Dementia in Brain Structure. 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:44.509 So this is a study of 479 ,000 participants over 00:03:44.509 --> 00:03:49.270 a 30 -year follow -up period. where they asked 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:52.289 everyone, how do you get around? How do you drive? 00:03:52.409 --> 00:03:53.909 How much do you drive? How much do you take trains? 00:03:54.129 --> 00:03:55.810 Do you ride your bike ever as transportation? 00:03:57.870 --> 00:03:59.789 It's an interesting study because a lot of people 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:03.129 have an exercise bike or go to the gym and cycle 00:04:03.129 --> 00:04:05.849 there or do a treadmill. But this was more interested 00:04:05.849 --> 00:04:10.569 in, these authors were rightly interested in 00:04:10.569 --> 00:04:13.229 people who are out moving their body through 00:04:13.229 --> 00:04:18.259 space in a situation that requires, rapid response 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:20.800 and thinking. When you're outside riding your 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.939 bike, you're using your brain in ways that you're 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:26.720 not using your brain. If you're sitting in a 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.699 chair watching TV, obviously, but also if you're 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:32.300 at a gym riding a treadmill watching a movie, 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:35.180 that's not using your brain very much. You're 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:39.620 usually watching or listening to music. to distract 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:41.860 yourself from the otherwise irritating thoughts 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:44.899 that might be in your brain. So when you're out 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:48.519 on a road riding your bike, this was their idea. 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:51.399 What if we test this? Is it true? Could it be 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.879 true that when people are out riding their bike... 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:57.149 Does it reduce their risk of dementia and improve 00:04:57.149 --> 00:05:00.050 their overall brain health? And the good news 00:05:00.050 --> 00:05:02.230 is, yes, they found exactly that. So this is 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:04.509 pretty exciting news. It was data collected from 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:07.970 the UK Biobank, United Kingdom Biobank. This 00:05:07.970 --> 00:05:10.689 is a research facility that collects data on 00:05:10.689 --> 00:05:13.230 virtually every person in Britain. And this is 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:15.069 data that was collected over a four -year period 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:19.069 from 2006 to 2010. And then they analyzed the 00:05:19.069 --> 00:05:23.149 data 10, 12 years later in October of 2024. And 00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:24.990 they started out by basically asking them, how 00:05:24.990 --> 00:05:27.470 do you get around, not to and from work, but 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:30.050 all other times? Do you drive? Do you take public 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:32.850 transportation? Do you walk? Do you ride your 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:35.850 bike? And they did MRI scans to measure the brain 00:05:35.850 --> 00:05:40.209 structure of these folks and focusing on the 00:05:40.209 --> 00:05:43.339 hippocampal. The hippocampus is a part of your 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:46.120 brain in the temple, inside, just inside each 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:49.480 ear. That is the critically important part for 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:54.060 you to store new memories. That is always damaged 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:56.850 when you have dementia. And so they measured 00:05:56.850 --> 00:05:59.129 hippocampal volume, the volume of this part of 00:05:59.129 --> 00:06:00.670 the brain that gets diminished when you have 00:06:00.670 --> 00:06:04.110 dementia. And oftentimes, it's diminished 30%. 00:06:04.110 --> 00:06:07.529 Most of the time when people notice any kind 00:06:07.529 --> 00:06:09.990 of memory loss or other symptoms of dementia, 00:06:10.250 --> 00:06:13.050 they've already lost 30 % of that part of the 00:06:13.050 --> 00:06:16.550 brain. So in this study, they measured with MRI 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:19.649 scans the hippocampal volume, the part of the 00:06:19.649 --> 00:06:22.540 brain that gets diminished with dementia. And 00:06:22.540 --> 00:06:25.620 folks who did cycling or mixed cycling, mixed 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:28.300 cycling and walking, and the folks that did the 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:31.279 active forms of transportation, cycling and walking, 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:35.160 they were found to have a reduced risk of all 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:38.600 -cause dementia, including young -onset dementia, 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:42.220 late -onset dementia, and Alzheimer's dementia, 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:45.699 as well as an increase in hippocampal volume. 00:06:45.860 --> 00:06:47.939 So this suggests that it's a very promising approach 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:50.629 for maintaining brain health. Cycling, especially 00:06:50.629 --> 00:06:53.810 as a regular form of transport, increases blood 00:06:53.810 --> 00:06:56.350 flow to the brain, reduces inflammation, and 00:06:56.350 --> 00:06:59.149 stimulates neurogenesis, the regeneration of 00:06:59.149 --> 00:07:02.509 new brain tissue. And it requires a higher cognitive 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:05.269 engagement. What does that mean? When you're 00:07:05.269 --> 00:07:09.110 out riding your bike, it requires more work for 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:11.209 your brain to pay attention, to make sure you're 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:12.930 not going to get hit by a car, and that scares 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:15.430 a lot of people. There are ways for people at 00:07:15.430 --> 00:07:18.120 any age to safely ride. their bike outdoors. 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:20.120 But no, it's not for everybody, but it's really 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:22.060 important. This is really exciting new research. 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:24.279 When you're out and about and you have to pay 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.199 attention to your surroundings and engage with 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.839 your environment in real time while your body 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.740 is in motion and your heart is pumping, flooding 00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:35.139 your brain with all the nutrients that it needs, 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:39.199 it contributes to a preservation of the part 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.589 of your brain that shrinks. In absence of that 00:07:42.589 --> 00:07:44.490 kind of activity, the main part of the brain, 00:07:44.550 --> 00:07:46.329 the hippocampus that shrinks when people get 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:50.069 dementia, is preserved. And likely, other research, 00:07:50.149 --> 00:07:51.569 what I'm going to get to here in a minute, is 00:07:51.569 --> 00:07:54.050 showing that you can even increase it with doing 00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:56.930 this type of activity. I'm Dr. Todd Bankley. 00:07:56.970 --> 00:07:58.850 You're listening to Safe, Effective, Natural 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:01.490 Solutions to Almost Any Health Challenge. Today 00:08:01.490 --> 00:08:03.569 we're talking about Alzheimer's and how you can 00:08:03.569 --> 00:08:06.350 identify your risk factors. And one of the most 00:08:06.350 --> 00:08:09.550 important tests anyone can do to identify their 00:08:09.550 --> 00:08:13.389 risk of getting Alzheimer's is the APOE gene 00:08:13.389 --> 00:08:16.290 test. It's a little bit of a mouthful, but it's 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:20.649 a common gene test, A -P -O -E. And there are 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:24.189 four variants of this gene. And so you want to 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:28.129 know, do you have the APOE2, 3, or 4? And you 00:08:28.129 --> 00:08:30.829 have two of each. So the highest risk is if you 00:08:30.829 --> 00:08:33.929 have two of the four APOE4 versions. It's a little 00:08:33.929 --> 00:08:36.950 technical. Interestingly, so it's about, I actually 00:08:36.950 --> 00:08:38.870 can run this test for you. Anybody who wants 00:08:38.870 --> 00:08:40.789 to run that, it's still kind of expensive. At 00:08:40.789 --> 00:08:42.889 LabCorp, current price, I just checked it yesterday, 00:08:43.210 --> 00:08:48.590 LabCorp charges $337 for this gene test. And 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:52.070 some people are excited about the gene tests 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:56.470 offered by, private companies like 23andMe. It's 00:08:56.470 --> 00:08:59.250 been in the news a lot lately. 23andMe is going 00:08:59.250 --> 00:09:02.529 through bankruptcy now and somebody is trying 00:09:02.529 --> 00:09:04.850 to buy it. And I also heard more recently that 00:09:04.850 --> 00:09:08.379 the original developer of the jean... test program 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:11.039 is also trying to buy it. And I went on their 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:12.899 website. I did it. I've encouraged a lot of my 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:16.840 patients to do it because for $149, you can get 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:21.700 the APOE gene test, which costs $337 out of pocket 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:25.419 anywhere else or more, and a dozen or more other 00:09:25.419 --> 00:09:28.100 gene tests, which adds up to thousands of dollars 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:32.240 worth of tests you get for $149. So if you're 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:34.980 not too worried about that, 23andMe website is 00:09:34.980 --> 00:09:38.019 still up. You can still go and order. That health 00:09:38.019 --> 00:09:41.360 gene test profile, it includes tests for clotting 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:46.080 factors and a whole host of other things. Hemochromatosis, 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:48.240 an iron overload disorder that comes up a lot. 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:50.879 You know, some people are worried about, well, 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:52.419 what are they going to do with my genetic material? 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:56.360 Well, who knows? But I think anyone could probably 00:09:56.360 --> 00:09:59.460 run a pretty good campaign to crack down on them 00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:01.700 if they did abuse it. And so far, everything 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:03.600 has been fine. But anyway, it's really important 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:06.879 to know. Why is it important to know? If you 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:12.159 have the APOE gene, because if you have the APOE4 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:16.919 gene, you have a 10 % 10 times 10, 10 fold increased 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:19.960 risk of dementia. And if you have the APO4 gene 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.559 times two, if you have two of those, the risk 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:27.159 is 25 fold increased risk for those people. It's 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.279 really important to really be really careful 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:31.799 about doing contact sports like boxing and football 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:35.090 and soccer. And even young people that have that 00:10:35.090 --> 00:10:37.570 gene, there is data to show that they can reduce 00:10:37.570 --> 00:10:39.309 their risk. It's actually important for anyone 00:10:39.309 --> 00:10:42.009 that's going to do sports that involves a risk 00:10:42.009 --> 00:10:45.850 of getting your head bumped to take some anti 00:10:45.850 --> 00:10:48.590 -inflammatory nutrients like turmeric or even, 00:10:48.649 --> 00:10:51.409 you know, worst case scenario, just take ibuprofen 00:10:51.409 --> 00:10:55.129 to reduce the inflammation that will occur if 00:10:55.129 --> 00:10:58.049 you hit your head because even a slight bump 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:01.710 dramatically increases your risk cumulatively. 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:05.080 of getting dementia. So the study that I just 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.960 cited about the effects of cycling, they did 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.200 test that on APOE4 carriers, and it didn't have 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.259 a strong... effect on those people because they 00:11:15.259 --> 00:11:17.379 have the highest risk. But there is a current 00:11:17.379 --> 00:11:19.399 study going on at the Cleveland Clinic right 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:24.059 now, the CYCLE -AD trial, and early reports show 00:11:24.059 --> 00:11:29.100 that sedentary carriers of the APOE4 gene experienced 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:32.220 more significant declines in episodic memory 00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:35.000 and the hippocampal volume, the part of the brain 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.000 that's so important in dementia, than carriers 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.299 of the same gene who engaged in moderate physical 00:11:41.299 --> 00:11:44.860 activity. suggesting that activities like cycling 00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:47.659 indoors or outdoors may enhance the functional 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:50.620 and structural integrity of this critical important 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:52.789 part of the brain. Well, here's another exciting 00:11:52.789 --> 00:11:55.970 study. Various travel modes involve different 00:11:55.970 --> 00:11:58.610 attention, engagement, and spatial navigation 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:01.350 abilities. So what does that mean? Well, this 00:12:01.350 --> 00:12:04.629 is research that was done by Dr. Jenna, MD, PhD 00:12:04.629 --> 00:12:06.730 of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General 00:12:06.730 --> 00:12:09.590 Hospital in Boston, published in December 2024 00:12:09.590 --> 00:12:12.029 in the British Medical Journal. A recent study 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:15.330 of workers in hundreds of occupations found that 00:12:15.330 --> 00:12:18.950 those who used real -time spatial and navigational 00:12:18.950 --> 00:12:24.100 processing skills the most notably taxi and ambulance 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:27.259 drivers, the people that were driving taxis and 00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:30.259 ambulances out in the environment where they're 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:32.500 having to respond in real time to a whole bunch 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:34.899 of stimuli. These folks had the lowest portion 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:38.340 of deaths due to Alzheimer's disease. This was 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.220 an analysis of death certificates in the U .S. 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:43.980 of nearly 9 million people who had died with 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:46.379 occupational information that allowed them to 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:51.159 determine this in 3 .88%. had Alzheimer's disease 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:55.220 listed as the cause of death. But only 1 % of 00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:59.720 taxi drivers and only 0 .74 % of ambulance drivers 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:04.570 had died from Alzheimer's disease. Equally interestingly, 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:07.710 this was a study of occupational information 00:13:07.710 --> 00:13:12.350 for over 400 different types of work and other 00:13:12.350 --> 00:13:14.710 transportation -related jobs that didn't require 00:13:14.710 --> 00:13:18.669 as much real -time spatial and navigational processing, 00:13:18.850 --> 00:13:24.159 such as bus drivers, for example. but they don't 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.480 have to pay attention as much as taxi and ambulance 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:30.440 drivers. They ranked 263rd out of, I think it 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:34.700 was 433 occupations. So the hippocampus is the 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:38.000 brain reason used to create these cognitive spatial 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.740 maps. What is a cognitive spatial map? When you 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:46.059 drive to and from some place regularly, you form... 00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:50.000 a map of your world, just driving to and from 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.620 work, the places that you drive all the time, 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:54.299 you eventually get to a point where you don't 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:55.580 even have to think about where you're going. 00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:57.320 You can just get in the car and go and you'll 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.879 eventually get there. And so these are spatial 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:03.889 maps that we record in our brain. And ambulance 00:14:03.889 --> 00:14:06.370 drivers and taxi drivers have to have a lot more 00:14:06.370 --> 00:14:08.789 of those than most people because they're going 00:14:08.789 --> 00:14:11.230 to a lot of different places all the time and 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:14.490 quickly and under pressure. And so it requires, 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:16.509 the point of this is not everyone's going to, 00:14:16.509 --> 00:14:18.889 it's not like everyone needs to become a taxi 00:14:18.889 --> 00:14:21.809 driver or an ambulance driver to reduce their 00:14:21.809 --> 00:14:24.690 brain risk of dementia. The point is understanding 00:14:24.690 --> 00:14:27.450 that when you use your brain in real time situations 00:14:27.450 --> 00:14:31.659 that require you to react in time. and process 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:33.980 a lot of information and you do that over and 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:36.460 over and over again, that's going to do much 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:40.919 more to maintain your brain health than playing 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:45.440 Sudoku or doing the crossword. Other studies 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.659 have shown similarly that, for example, speaking 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:52.259 in public or going to a movie with friends and 00:14:52.259 --> 00:14:55.039 then talking about something controversial afterwards. 00:14:55.710 --> 00:14:58.129 Basically anything that requires you to think 00:14:58.129 --> 00:15:00.309 on your feet, to be a little bit uncomfortable. 00:15:01.210 --> 00:15:04.330 to stretch your boundaries a little bit and react 00:15:04.330 --> 00:15:07.250 in real time, not in necessarily dangerous ways, 00:15:07.389 --> 00:15:09.129 especially as you get older, there's easy ways 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:11.309 to do this. Basically, just by talking, that's 00:15:11.309 --> 00:15:12.809 one of the best examples. And there's good data 00:15:12.809 --> 00:15:15.509 to show this too. Just put yourself in an environment 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:17.889 where you have to think on your feet, where someone's 00:15:17.889 --> 00:15:19.809 going to ask you a question and you have to respond 00:15:19.809 --> 00:15:23.110 right now. Go to a Toastmasters group. If you've 00:15:23.110 --> 00:15:25.070 never been to a Toastmasters group, this is the 00:15:25.070 --> 00:15:28.429 public speaking organization that trains people. 00:15:28.649 --> 00:15:31.669 If you're, if public speaking, Speaking terrifies 00:15:31.669 --> 00:15:33.809 you. Some people say it's the number one fear 00:15:33.809 --> 00:15:37.970 more than snakes or dying even. It's a really 00:15:37.970 --> 00:15:40.070 supportive group where you go and everyone else 00:15:40.070 --> 00:15:42.950 is there for the same reason to get over the 00:15:42.950 --> 00:15:44.870 fear of public speaking. And it makes it really 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:48.669 easy to develop the skills. And every time you're 00:15:48.669 --> 00:15:52.399 too... to your level of comfort. Sometimes the 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.200 first few times you just show up, but eventually 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.200 you gradually increase your comfort level with 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.179 speaking extemporaneously, speaking on your feet, 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:05.019 speaking about something off the cuff. That uses 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:08.759 huge amounts of brain connectivity. It maintains 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:12.159 the connections between the remaining nerve cells 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.460 in your brain so that they continue to work for 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:18.909 the rest of your life and dramatically reduce 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:22.889 your risk of dementia. I'm Dr. Todd Bankley. 00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:24.730 You're listening to Safe, Effective, Natural 00:16:24.730 --> 00:16:27.490 Solutions to almost any health challenge. Today, 00:16:27.549 --> 00:16:30.289 we're talking about how to reduce your risk and 00:16:30.289 --> 00:16:33.570 identify your risk of Alzheimer's and other forms 00:16:33.570 --> 00:16:36.519 of dementia. Anything you do regularly that requires 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:39.080 you to think on your feet in real time increases 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:43.080 the hippocampal volume in your brain. The hippocampus 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.220 is the part of your brain that records new memories 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:48.379 and figures out where to store them. This is 00:16:48.379 --> 00:16:50.580 the part of the brain that most often gets destroyed 00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:53.440 by Alzheimer's. So that's why people who have 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.159 dementia... can experience something, and then 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.460 five minutes later they don't remember it. We, 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:02.360 most people who have normal brain function, experience 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:05.900 the world as we see something, we automatically 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:09.019 remember it. It's a one -step process. You see 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:10.980 something, of course you just saw that, so of 00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:13.900 course you remember it. But in fact, the recording 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:17.119 of memory is at least, always at least, a two 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.920 -step process. A memory comes in, it has to go 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.359 through the hippocampus, and the hippocampus 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:24.930 is the part of the brain. that decides where 00:17:24.930 --> 00:17:27.609 to store that memory. It wants to categorize 00:17:27.609 --> 00:17:30.509 it and put it in a specific box, someplace where 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:33.289 it can find it again later. That's the part of 00:17:33.289 --> 00:17:34.950 the brain that gets destroyed, that switching 00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:37.890 station. And that's why people with dementia 00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:40.309 can see something, hear something, experience 00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:44.150 something, and then five minutes later not remember 00:17:44.150 --> 00:17:47.119 it because the part of the brain that... is required 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.000 to store that memory is gone or dramatically 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.220 diminished. And it's also why those same people 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:56.240 can remember things that happened 10, 20, 50 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.500 years ago. They can remember what happened then 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:01.539 because those memories were successfully stored. 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:05.319 The problem is it's difficult to store new memories 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.400 because the loss of this critical part of the 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.619 brain called the hippocampus. So we talked about 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:17.299 how taxi drivers have better capacity to Taxi 00:18:17.299 --> 00:18:19.359 drivers themselves have been shown to have larger 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.359 hippocampal volume. The part of their brain, 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:25.000 this hippocampus, is larger than others. Another 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:28.259 study research led by Eleanor McGuire, Ph .D. 00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:31.119 of the University College of London, showed several 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:33.720 years ago that taxi drivers had significantly 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:37.940 larger hippocampus volume than others who were 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:40.799 similar in age, education, and intelligence. 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:43.660 Well, more recently, in a study published in 00:18:43.660 --> 00:18:47.359 the Current Biology Journal, In December 2011, 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:50.619 Drs. Catherine Woollett and Eleanor McGuire, 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:54.299 Ph .D. in London, showed that London cabbie, 00:18:54.299 --> 00:18:56.819 they talked about how London cabbie drivers must 00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:00.039 pass this rigorous test called the knowledge. 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:03.880 So the knowledge that any London cabbie driver 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.019 must pass this test requires them to know the 00:19:07.019 --> 00:19:11.519 irregular layout of about 25 ,000 streets within 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.000 a six mile radius. of the Charing Cross train 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.440 station, which is the exact geographic center 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.940 of London. And they have to know the locations 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:23.519 of thousands of places. So this spatial learning, 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:26.759 known as the knowledge, takes several years to 00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:30.680 learn. And when Drs. McGuire and colleagues examined 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.880 the brains of 79 taxi drivers before and after, 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:37.000 they spent three or four years preparing for 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:40.410 this test. Those who successfully passed the 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:43.210 test had an increase in gray matter volume in 00:19:43.210 --> 00:19:46.049 the posterior hippocampus and changes to their 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:49.089 memory profile compared with control. So what 00:19:49.089 --> 00:19:51.369 does that mean? The people who had to take this 00:19:51.369 --> 00:19:53.609 test and memorize all this spatial information 00:19:53.609 --> 00:19:57.410 to know where they were in any part of London 00:19:57.410 --> 00:19:59.690 at any time and know where most of the major 00:19:59.690 --> 00:20:02.390 locations the people would want to go to when 00:20:02.390 --> 00:20:04.250 they get into a cab in the center of London. 00:20:04.369 --> 00:20:08.650 These people had significantly larger hippocampus 00:20:08.650 --> 00:20:12.130 the critical part of the brain than others who 00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:15.329 didn't so i mentioned at the top of the show 00:20:15.329 --> 00:20:17.609 today that there is exciting new research on 00:20:17.609 --> 00:20:19.930 what can you do it's all good and well i'm always 00:20:19.930 --> 00:20:23.230 telling people you know please exercise get yourself 00:20:23.230 --> 00:20:26.210 tested move your body take some nutrients make 00:20:26.210 --> 00:20:28.210 sure that your blood pressure is controlled and 00:20:28.210 --> 00:20:30.190 you're keeping your heart strong and you're keeping 00:20:30.190 --> 00:20:32.549 your pipes clear to keep the blood flowing prevent 00:20:32.549 --> 00:20:34.980 plaques from forming prevent risk of heart disease 00:20:34.980 --> 00:20:37.640 and stroke, anything you do like that is going 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:39.920 to reduce your risk of all forms of dementia. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:43.519 Most forms of dementia are caused in part, if 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.359 not mostly, by lack of circulation, by a loss 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:49.259 of oxygen, by slow degeneration of that tissue 00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:52.700 from that loss of circulation, loss of oxygen 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:57.480 supply, loss of essential nutrients. So, that's 00:20:57.480 --> 00:20:59.440 all well and good, but what do you do if you've 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:01.940 already been diagnosed? What if you already have 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:05.319 Alzheimer's or your loved one has been diagnosed 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:06.759 with Alzheimer's? So, this is a really exciting 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:09.839 study published in the Alzheimer's Research Journal 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.400 Translational Research and Clinical Interventions 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:16.559 in May 2025, just last month. It's a small study. 00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:19.519 20 Alzheimer's patients, 60 and up, on medication, 00:21:19.859 --> 00:21:22.519 the standard medications for Alzheimer's, who 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:26.190 received 20 grams a day of creatine. powder. 00:21:26.910 --> 00:21:29.690 Creatine powder is well known among the exercise 00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:32.769 community. This is the amino acid that is very 00:21:32.769 --> 00:21:35.730 helpful for building muscle mass. So a lot of 00:21:35.730 --> 00:21:38.930 bodybuilders take creatine powder. This study 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:41.450 used a dose of 20 grams a day split into two 00:21:41.450 --> 00:21:44.910 doses for eight weeks. And after they did this, 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:47.569 they proved number one, that the serum creatinine 00:21:47.569 --> 00:21:52.089 values went up from 0 .6 to 15 milligrams. per 00:21:52.089 --> 00:21:54.009 deciliter. This is reported by Matthew Taylor, 00:21:54.230 --> 00:21:57.089 PhD of the University of Kansas Medical Center 00:21:57.089 --> 00:21:59.829 in Kansas City and his colleagues. So number 00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:01.769 one, they proved that taking this did actually 00:22:01.769 --> 00:22:05.009 improve, dramatically improve, 15 -fold or 30 00:22:05.009 --> 00:22:08.250 -fold nearly increase in the serum levels of 00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:10.750 creatine when they took the creatine powder. 00:22:10.910 --> 00:22:13.430 But more importantly, the secondary outcome that 00:22:13.430 --> 00:22:16.789 they were really going for is the total creatinine 00:22:16.789 --> 00:22:21.230 in the brain increased by 11%. And this was determined 00:22:21.230 --> 00:22:25.190 by a special form of MRI called a magnetic resonance 00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:29.210 spectroscopic imaging, MRSI. This is a special 00:22:29.210 --> 00:22:31.750 test for imaging things in the brain. And they 00:22:31.750 --> 00:22:34.789 also showed with a number of metrics that cognition 00:22:34.789 --> 00:22:37.829 improved on several components of the standard 00:22:37.829 --> 00:22:42.789 National Institutes of Health toolbox. cognition 00:22:42.789 --> 00:22:44.670 battery. And this is just a group of tests that 00:22:44.670 --> 00:22:48.190 are used to measure total cognition, fluid cognition, 00:22:48.569 --> 00:22:52.349 list sorting, oral reading, and inhibitory control 00:22:52.349 --> 00:22:54.369 and attention. That's kind of a mouthful, but 00:22:54.369 --> 00:22:56.910 these are just basic ways through interviewing 00:22:56.910 --> 00:22:59.490 a patient in the office or questionnaires to 00:22:59.490 --> 00:23:02.190 measure their ability to use their brain. These 00:23:02.190 --> 00:23:05.210 were all improved by taking creatine. Well, why 00:23:05.210 --> 00:23:07.869 is that? Well, creatine helps boost metabolism 00:23:07.869 --> 00:23:11.829 by regenerating ATP, which is a key step in energy 00:23:11.829 --> 00:23:14.569 production, and the mitochondria, the energy 00:23:14.569 --> 00:23:17.630 -producing fuel cell in every cell in the body, 00:23:17.650 --> 00:23:20.150 including the brain. And impaired brain metabolism, 00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:23.210 including dysfunction in the creatinine system, 00:23:23.450 --> 00:23:26.369 likely plays a role in Alzheimer's disease. That's 00:23:26.369 --> 00:23:28.470 what this research is showing. It also might 00:23:28.470 --> 00:23:30.609 just help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, 00:23:30.789 --> 00:23:32.670 which there's lots of nutrients that also help 00:23:32.670 --> 00:23:35.779 do that. But it's really important. So the new 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:38.339 research that's very exciting is creatine powder 00:23:38.339 --> 00:23:41.980 can very likely reduce your risk of dementia. 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.839 But it's important to not go out and buy creatine 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:47.859 supplements that are full of sugar and stimulants 00:23:47.859 --> 00:23:50.160 like the junk that a lot of bodybuilders take, 00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:53.660 the stuff that they sell at most stores. Creatine 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:56.859 doesn't taste delicious by itself, so most of 00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:59.440 these products add sugar, artificial sweeteners 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:03.140 that are not good for you, and stimulants, just 00:24:03.140 --> 00:24:05.900 caffeine or ephedra, guarana, a whole host of 00:24:05.900 --> 00:24:07.220 other things that you definitely don't want. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:09.000 Just get the creatine itself. If you're wondering 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:11.519 where a good place to get it is, email me, and 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:13.779 I'll tell you we are running out of time. Thanks 00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:17.019 again for tuning in. I'm very excited about this 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:19.980 new research for preventing and possibly even 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:22.849 reversing. Alzheimer's. Have an excellent weekend. 00:24:23.109 --> 00:24:25.150 I look forward to speaking with you again right 00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:28.289 here next Friday at 2 p .m. You've been listening 00:24:28.289 --> 00:24:31.769 to Safe, Effective Natural Solutions with Dr. 00:24:31.930 --> 00:24:34.450 Todd Binkley. If you have a health question you 00:24:34.450 --> 00:24:36.869 want discussed on the show, email your health 00:24:36.869 --> 00:24:40.670 questions to drbinkley at binkleyhealingcenter 00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:44.390 .com. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask 00:24:44.390 --> 00:24:47.009 questions for yourself and for your loved ones 00:24:47.009 --> 00:24:50.789 because our health matters. Join him next Friday 00:24:50.789 --> 00:24:54.950 at 2 p .m. for Safe, Effective Natural Solutions 00:24:54.950 --> 00:24:58.140 here on 98. 3 FM, The Word.