The Good News and Bad News on Alzheimer’s

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I know I’ve sounded all doom and gloom lately with the latest news on Alzheimer’s, so I thought I’d better find some good news to report.

First, more bad news…

According to the Longevity Review, One in 5 women and 1 in 7 men who reach age 55 will develop some form of dementia in their remaining lifetime or to put it another way; every 71 seconds, another American develops Alzheimer’s.

I don’t need to re-hash the predictions - hopefully you read them in my earlier report. What I DO want to stress is that we can’t just stick our heads in the sand like we did with global warming and hope that this goes away or they will find a cure.

It won’t happen - at least, not in our lifetime.

The current pharmacetucial options are neither effectively addressing Alzheimer’s symptoms nor preventing its progression. Research is being done on new drugs, but that takes time - sometimes, lots of it.

The Good News

There has been a lot of promising research lately with nutraceuticals (remember my post about them?). The good news about them is that they are available now, have few, if any, side effects and when taken together, may help brain function.

Here is a list of the nutraceuticals that have been researched and show promise. I won’t go into too much detail on each one - you can read that here.

1. Curcumin - remember our friend Turmeric? Turns out it has a whole host of good things it does. Aging Indians, who eat a diet rich in curry spice, don’t suffer from dementia. Only 1% of the population develops Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Also interesting to note: an ingredient in black pepper (also used in curry spice) significantly enhances the benefits of Curcumin.

Unfortunately, I’m not a big curry fan - I may just go with the supplement.

TurmericForce

2. Rosemary Extract

3. Ginkgo Biloba Extract - not much of a surprise here, as it’s been around for years - in spite of some controversy, Ginkgo Biloba has shown its effectiveness.

4. Red Ginseng Extract - here’s one that I will probably covering in the near future. There’s a lot of hoopla about this Asian herb also known as Panax ginseng. There are even some claims that it’s good for erectile dysfunction, which could be an added plus if you’re taking it for Alzheimer’s.

Red Ginseng

5. Vinpocetine - derived from the periwinkle plant

6. Huperzine A - extracted from Chinese moss

7. Myricetin - found in common foods such as berries, vegetables, teas and wine.

8. Ferulic Acid - found in plant seeds and similar to Curcumin.

9. Ashwagandha (root of Withania somnifera) - another botanical similar to ginseng.

There you have it - hasn’t someone put all these together yet in one easy to take supplement?

Related Posts

1. More Good News About Green Tea Extract
2. Not all Turmeric/Curcumin Is Created Equal
3. Scary News About Alzheimer’s