A key factor that can double your risk of Alzheimer’s—and what you can do to stop it
I’ve written before about one of the major new scientific insights of the late 20th century—psychoneuroimmunology.
This concept may be new, but the basic premise dates back many centuries.
Basically, psychoneuroimmunology has to do with the mind-body connection. It details how what happens in your brain influences what goes on in your nervous system, endocrine (hormonal) system, and immune system.
So it’s not surprising that new evidence shows the immune system has a prominent role in the most important brain condition of our time—Alzheimer’s disease.
In fact, neurobiologists have found that immune cells that normally fight infections play a far greater role in Alzheimer’s than previously thought.
This backs up the groundbreaking evidence I reported in the February issue of Insiders’ Cures (“The all-natural Alzheimer’s cure hiding in plain sight”), and in my new Alzheimer’s online learning protocol I released last month.
In that protocol, I give you specifics on how natural approaches like eating right, taking supplements, exercising, and incorporating mind-body techniques have now been scientifically shown to reverse Alzheimer’s disease in a whopping 90 percent of people.
And several of these same natural approaches also help boost the immune system.
I’ll tell you more about that in a moment, but first, let’s look at this interesting new study. And how it provides more evidence of just how important the mind-body connection is for optimum health…both mental and physical.
The many ways your brain and body work together
Contrary to what mainstream medicine and science preached for so many years, your brain and body are closely connected. In fact, your brain “reaches” every part of your body through the brain stem, spinal cord, spinal nerves, and out to the peripheral nerves.
Through the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, your brain also “controls” all the glands in your body by releasing potent hormones that circulate through the blood to all parts of your body.
And your brain influences the immune system by sending a variety of disease-fighting white blood cells throughout your body.
Of course, this is a two-way street—your body influences your mind as well.
For example, your gastrointestinal system—not just your nervous system—produces most of the chemicals in the body that help nerve cells communicate with each other. Which gives a whole new meaning to the term “gut feeling.” The GI tract also has more immune cells, starting with the oral cavity, than does the immune system itself.
Which leads me to the new study I mentioned earlier.
Cut your Alzheimer’s risk in half by boosting your immune system
Researchers at the University of California Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders in Irvine observed that mice lacking key immune cells are twice as likely to develop neuro-degeneration and dementia compared to normal mice.1
The researchers took mice that are genetically more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease and bred them so they lacked three types of vital immune cells—T cells, B cells, and NK (natural killer) cells.
By the time these immune-deficient mice were just six months old, the researchers observed that they already had double the build-up of proteins associated with dementia in their brains.
The researchers believe this finding has to do with a type of immune cell in the brain called microglia. With the help of antibodies created by B cells in the body’s immune system, microglia cells help clear the brain of beta-amyloid (a protein that has previously been associated with cases of clinical dementia in humans).
To further test their findings, the researchers transplanted bone marrow stem cells into the mice with immune deficiency. T, B, and NK immune cells develop from bone marrow stem cells, so the transplant basically restored the mice’s immune system function.
The researchers then tested the levels of beta-amyloid in the mice and found they were substantially lower—thanks to the mice’s healthier immune systems.
Simple ways you can boost your immune system
The researchers noted that in humans, the immune system’s T and B cells naturally decline with age. There’s not much you can do about that, but there are ways you can stop much of the wear and tear on your immune system and keep it healthy.
Specifically, I’m talking about reducing inflammation, which can flat-out ravage your immune system.
I discuss the simple—and natural—approaches you can take to slash inflammation in your body and brain in my new Complete Alzheimer’s Cure online learning protocol.
And you can also discover how mind-body techniques like meditation, acupuncture, and many more can help with a dozen major conditions that are not well treated by mainstream medicine—including brain conditions. Find the treatments that will work best for you by taking my “Your Emotional Type” quiz at www.drmicozzi.com, and then reading my two books with Mike Jawer: The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion and Your Emotional Type.
Bottom line: Just as with any other chronic disease, Alzheimer’s has an important mind-body connection. And that means a healthy immune system is vital to substantially reducing your risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
SOURCE:
1 “The adaptive immune system restrains Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis by modulating microglial function.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016; 201525466.