Mainstream medicine has spent decades chasing failed theories about what causes Alzheimer’s disease (AD). And they’ve poured billions of dollars into developing toxic drug treatments that haven’t helped one bit in the fight against this devastating brain disease.
At the same time, ongoing research shows strong potential for one simple nutrient to prevent—and even reverse—the cognitive decline associated with AD. Better yet, this all-important nutrient also protects you against many other chronic diseases as well, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and depression.
Of course, I’m talking about good, old vitamin D…
Expert admits vitamin D holds a ton of promise
I recently came across an interview with Richard Isaacson, M.D., the Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Cornell Medical School-New York Presbyterian Hospital, about the potential of vitamin D to prevent and treat AD.
First, Dr. Isaacson said we should focus on regularly testing vitamin D blood levels in older people. He cited recent research published in the prestigious journal Neurology that showed aiming to achieve vitamin D blood levels nearing 50 nanomoles/Liter (nmol/L) seems to work best to reduce the risk of developing this dreaded brain disease.
Next, Dr. Isaacson cited encouraging evidence about vitamin D’s potential as a treatment in people already diagnosed with AD…
He talked about a small, but well-designed study where researchers randomly divided about 200 men and women diagnosed with AD into two treatment groups. The first group took 800 IU per day of vitamin D for 12 months. The second group took a placebo for 12 months.
As you might expect, the vitamin D group experienced “significant” improvements in cognitive testing. Plus, they exhibited improvements in the blood biomarkers associated with AD.
Of course, as Dr. Isaacson admits, 800 IU per day is quite a small dose of vitamin D. So just imagine what would have happened if they’d used an optimal dose of 10,000 IU per day!
(Remember—unlike most other vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements—vitamin D is measured in international units [IU], rather than milligrams (mg) or micrograms (mcg). But if it were measured in the metric system, the doses would sound much more familiar…but tiny. In fact, 10,000 IU of vitamin D—which is the amount I recommend you take daily—is just a miniscule 250 mcg.)
Dr. Isaacson concluded the interview with a suggestion that vitamin D may very well be a “new therapeutic paradigm” for AD and dementia.
Indeed. And it should be!
But, good doctor, what took you so long to come to that conclusion? The science on vitamin D has been around for over a decade!
Still, in the end, I’m glad to see more experts like Dr. Isaacson talking about simple vitamin D as a treatment for AD. And my advice about it remains the same. That is, supplementing with 10,000 IU of vitamin D3, each and every day.
In addition, you should also aim to spend 15 minutes each day in the sun without sunscreen to activate your skin’s natural production of vitamin D. You can also obtain extra vitamin D from some food sources, such as fatty fish (which is also a great source of essential omega-3 fatty acids).
The AD and dementia clinics at UCLA, George Washington University (GWU), and elsewhere now offer many different types of natural treatments as well. So, if someone you love has been diagnosed with a brain disease, you may want to check out those clinics. (My colleague Dr. Misha Kogan leads the clinic at GWU, which was originally founded by my friend, Dr. John Pan.)
You can also learn about the many other safe and effective approaches to help prevent and even reverse AD and dementia in my comprehensive, online learning tool, the Complete Alzheimer’s Prevention and Repair Protocol. To learn more, or enroll today, simply click here.
Source:
“Consider Vitamin D in Alzheimer’s Prevention and Management.” Medscape, 11/18/19. (medscape.com/viewarticle/917452)