If you watched 60 Minutes tonight, you saw a special called “The Alzheimer’s Laboratory.” A drug trial is underway in Medillin, Colombia, to determine whether a drug produced by Genentech can prevent or destroy the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, widely believed to cause Alzheimer’s. Here’s a Wall Street Journal article from last year last discussing the same trial: http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-battle-against-alzheimers-heres-ground-zero-1430127182
This trial is different from others, as participants will receive the drug prior to showing any Alzheimer’s symptoms. Prior drug trials involved participants who already had the disease, and it is believed they were too far advanced for the drug to make a difference. If this trial is successful, the drug will slow or prevent accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain.
I truly hope the drug being tested works to breakdown or prevent the formation of amyloid protein. It will be a major breakthrough in Alzheimer’s prevention. Regardless, I will continue to encourage everyone I know to follow a ketogenic diet as it, too, is designed to prevent the buildup of amyloid protein in the brain.
If you are reading this blog and haven’t read “Grain Brain” by Dr. David Perlmutter, go buy it now. He will explain how proteins become deformed through a process called glycation – the bonding of sugar molecules to proteins, fats and amino acids – resulting in the creation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs cause protein fibers to become misshapen and inflexible. While glycation is a product of our normal metabolism, too much is a bad thing and sugar makes it worse. High levels of glycation are associated with cognitive decline, kidney disease, diabetes, vascular disease and the aging process. According to Dr. Perlmutter, the best way to keep AGEs from forming is to reduce the availability of sugar in the first place.
As I said at the beginning, I’m rooting for the drug trial to work. However, it will be at least 2020 before we know, and I refuse to rely on a possible drug treatment when a natural and healthy way to prevent Alzheimer’s is completely within my control. It’s been almost 2 years since I started a ketogenic diet and I have only one regret – that I didn’t start sooner.
