Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s. A dreaded word in every family. Who doesn’t know of someone affected by this terrible affliction? Over four million Americans are affected, and twice that number worldwide.

What is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease? Is it inevitable for some unfortunate souls? Has it always been this way? Is there anything we can do to prevent or avoid it? Let’s consider what the “experts” say, then see what else may be helpful.

Some of the common risk factors listed by representative authorities are Age, Gender, Family history, and Cardiovascular disease. Although some genetically-linked occurrences begin at younger age, the typical age at onset is 65 years or older. By age 85, as many as half the population may be afflicted. More women than men are affected, although it is not clear how that compares with the greater longevity of women. Some families have a number of members affected, but it has not been well defined how many are the result of genetics and how many occur because they live in the same environment. The cardiovascular factor is the focal point for a number of environmentally related items: smoking, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, diabetes, high homocysteine levels; all of these can be influenced by appropriate attention.

Some lesser factors mentioned are head injury, small head size, low economic level, low education, alcohol use, hormones, stress, and depression. Living in a rural area and having less than six years education has also been mentioned.

I need to do more research on the history of Alzheimer’s. I have the impression that this is a growing problem in the same sense that autism is – relatively unknown some time ago, but growing worse now. If you have a reference that answers that, please let me know; I would appreciate the support.

Are we doomed to Alzheimer’s? Are certain individuals destined to be affected as they grow older and others sure to be kept free? I doubt that anyone can answer that question now; certainly I can not. But I can share my opinion that Alzheimer’s is a form of unwellness. Although I can not diagnose nor treat – much less heal – disease, I can do much to maintain my personal wellness.

One of my sources, The Alzheimer's Association, lists a number of actions that one can take to minimize the risk factors for the disease. Details are available at http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_causes_risk_factors.asp,
with specific steps to support Brain Health at http://www.alz.org/we_can_help_brain_health_maintain_your_brain.asp

I consider prevention of Alzheimer’s to fall within the general heading of maintenance of wellness. If I do all that I know to do to guard against diabetes, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, and other bodily ailments, I believe that I am also doing much to guard against Alzheimer’s disease as well. Wellness is wellness; if I am truly well, then I do not have disease of any type, whether brain, bone, or blood. Some basics of my approach to wellness are listed in The Wheel of Wellness. (available at http://wellnessismyconcern.blogspot.com/2007/10/wheel-of-wellness.html) I welcome inquiries as to the details of my personal wellness plan, from recovery from cancer to successful aging.

Some helpful references:

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/alzheimers-disease/risk-factors.html

http://alzheimers.about.com/od/diagnosisissues/a/alz_risk_factor.htm

http://www.alzinfo.org/alzheimers-research-causes.asp

Wellness is more than the absence of symptoms

Some guidelines toward wellness

Following are some of the conclusions I have formed from the variety of sources I have discovered. Although they do not all agree with medical industry practice, there are many medical doctors who concur – they are my primary source of information.

I welcome your challenge to these observations. But rather than just disagree, please provide evidence to support the challenge. I am still learning and intend to do so as long as the Lord gives me breath.

POSITIVES:

First and foremost, nourish your body as it was designed to be fed. As Hippocrates said, “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine your food”

Learn to eat for wellness rather than for taste.

Unless you have found a garden plot that is fully supplied with all the vital trace minerals (I haven’t), supplement your diet to be sure that you have all the essentials that you need for wellness. Some commonly missing nutrients are vitamin A (mixed carotenoids), vitamin E (mixed tocopherols), Vitamin D (sunshine is the best natural source), and omega 3 oils (such as DHA). Among the minerals depleted from our farmland is selenium, and it is critical to wellness.

Include generous servings of fresh, raw, preferably organic produce in your daily diet.

Buy local when possible. It will be more nutritious because there is less need for green harvest.

Include variety in your diet. The combination of a variety of plant sources will supply all the nutrition you need for wellness.

Prepare meals from pure ingredients, using organic when possible. Processing and preservatives do not support wellness.

Drink water as your most common beverage, preferably Wellness Water. (Ask me.)

If you can’t get Wellness Water, at least use purified water. Distilled or reverse osmosis water is OK for short term use (cleansing), but leaches minerals over the long term.

Feed infants as they were designed to be fed – mother’s milk is their primary food. Cow’s milk has been linked to ear infections, excess mucus production, and much more. Other infant formula is no better; only mother’s milk is properly suited to the needs of an infant.

Take beta glucan to boost your immune system. Ask me for a specific product.

Remove the heavy metals from your body – mercury from old fillings and a lifetime of immunizations; aluminum from food (baking powder!) and a lifetime of deodorants. Ask me for a product to accomplish that.

NEGATIVES:

Avoid, or at least minimize, all consumption of animal products, especially those considered “unclean” in the Old Testament dietary rules. They are all hazardous to your health.

Avoid prepared meals, sauces, soups, canned food, and the like. The processing destroys food value, and most have poisonous additives.

Avoid chlorinated or fluoridated water. Those are poisons to you as well as to microbes.

Avoid omega 6 oils – they suppress your immune system. Examples: corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, canola, and soy oils.

Minimize consumption of sugar – it suppresses your immune system.

Skip your flu shot; instead, work on boosting your immune system.

Absolutely avoid aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal). Besides the well documented link to cancer (esp. brain cancer), headaches, seizures, depression, obesity – it also has been demonstrated in lab animals to shrink testicles.

Avoid all forms of glutamate (e.g., MSG). Studies dating back to 1969 have demonstrated that it destroys the part of the brain that limits development of fat cells, so leads to gross obesity. Most glutamate is disguised or not even listed on food ingredients. Examples: most food bars and many “health” supplements have soy protein isolate as the first ingredient; that is glutamate.

Don’t eat commercial turkey – use only organic or range fed. The commercially available fowl has been soaked or injected with some form of glutamate.

Mothers-to-be: especially avoid MSG. The effect on the baby is disastrous; the effect is magnified in the small developing body.

Avoid childhood immunizations, but rather, provide the nutrition that makes such injections unnecessary. Too many studies have linked immunizations to autism and other similar conditions.

If you can’t find a way to avoid immunizations, at least space them out so the child has time to recover fully between them. Multiple injections or too-closely-spaced injections do not allow the immune system to respond as it should.

We won the war!!! Why are we still fighting??

Any of us but the youngest are aware of the War on Cancer. But were we aware of this early battle?

CANCER RESEARCH

HEARINGS

Before a

Subcommittee of the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

UNITED STATES SENATE

SEVENTY-NINTH CONGRESS

Second Session

on

S. 1875

A Bill to authorize and request the President to undertake to mobilize at some convenient place in the United States an adequate number of the World’s Outstanding Experts, and coordinate and utilize their services in a Supreme Effort to Discover Means of Curing and Preventing Cancer.

July 1, 2, and 3, 1946

The early post-war hearings brought to light the work of Max Gerson, MD. Beginning with himself and continuing with his patients, Dr. Gerson treated primarily the untreatable, and very often brought about healing where none was thought (by the medical establishment) possible.

As a young medical student in Germany, Gerson suffered from severe migraine headaches. Others told him they were untreatable and that he should learn to live with them. But Gerson found that by modifying his diet to avoid salt, fat, and pickled and smoked foods and including fresh fruits and vegetables, he could control his migraines. Soon he was sharing his “migraine diet” with his patients.

One of Dr. Gerson’s patients insisted that the migraine diet had cured his skin tuberculosis. Under the sponsorship of a world famous thoracic surgeon and tuberculosis authority, Dr. Ferdinand Sauerbruch, Dr. Gerson validated the value of his diet. In clinical trials, 446 of 450 TB patients achieved lasting cures. World War II forced Dr. Gerson to leave Germany in 1933.

Among Dr. Gerson’s better known patients were the wife (lung cancer) of Albert Schweitzer, M.D., and later Dr. Schweitzer himself (diabetes). Dr. Gerson demonstrated fifty recovered (terminal!) cancer patients before the Senate Subcommittee hearings on cancer and continued to publish the results of his work.

Of course, Dr. Gerson was hailed as a hero by the US medical establishment, right? Not on your life! Dr. Gerson said it much more politely than I would have:

“The history of medicine reveals that reformers who bring new ideas into the general thinking and practice of physicians have a difficult time. Very few physicians like to change their medical approaches. The majority practice what they have learned and apply the treatment of the textbooks more or less automatically. Right from the beginning, the physician wants most of all to help the patient. He hesitates to take risks for his patients by applying a not-recognized treatment. The history of science, art and technology shows that each new idea has been fought bitterly; most of the reformers did not live to see the realization of their ideas.

“This is one of the reasons why developments in culture made very slow progress all through the centuries; they were restrained forcefully.

“I was in a more favorable position. Ninety to ninety-five per cent of my patients were far advanced (terminal) cases without any risk to take; either all recognized treatments had failed or the patients were inoperable from the beginning. It takes some time to acquire enough experience to see progress, results or failures.”¹

Sixty years ago, Dr. Gerson had recognized that we faced the choice to die of cancer or make fundamental changes of life and nutrition. His counsel was

“We will again need real housewives, not eager to save kitchen time, but homemakers who will devote their lives to the benefit of all, especially the task of developing and maintaining a healthy family. Babies would no longer be fed by a formula but would have the natural mother’s milk; they would grow up without being afflicted with a fatal disease such as leukemia, and without being mentally retarded, both conditions which are increasing rapidly at present.

“For the future of coming generations, I think it is high time that we change our agriculture and food preservation methods. Otherwise, we will have to increase our institutions for mental patients yearly, and we will see the hospitals overcrowded with degenerative diseases even more rapidly and in greater number than the hospitals themselves can be enlarged. Seventy years ago, leukemia was unknown in the United States. Fifty years ago, lung cancer was so seldom observed in clinics and autopsies that every case was worthy of publication. But today – what a change for the worse.” ²

How has history treated the contributions of Dr. Gerson to our wellness? Sixty-one years after presenting his results to the US Senate (and the world), and forty-seven years after his death, he is ignored by the medical establishment. Although his successors at The Gerson Institute continue to deal effectively with terminal cancer (unless the liver has ceased to function), their greatest enemies are the US society of physicians and the apathetic response of patients – the treatment is rigorous enough that too many give up and die rather than endure and live. We continue to throw billions of dollars at cancer with negligible change in mortality rate – for example the recently voter-approved three billion dollar boondoggle in Texas to set up yet another government bureaucracy to soak up resources that have far better uses enriching our lives. The cure for cancer is staring us in the mouth; all we have to do is live the way our bodies were designed for us to live and most of the “diseases of affluence” will go away. But a typical response to this wonderfully liberating news is that of a widow I had met: when she overheard me to suggest that a change of diet could help prevent disease such as cancer, I was perceived as accusing her of murdering her late husband, who had died of cancer.

---------------------------------------------

1. Max Gerson, M.D., A Cancer Therapy, The Gerson Institute, Bonita, CA: 1958, p xiv

2. Ibid., p4

Natural Healing – a personal episode

I grew up in a family accustomed to conventional medical care. When I had pneumonia, I was the recipient of an interminable series of penicillin injections. Later when I discovered allergies that led to recurrent bronchitis, I knew to see the doctor and get antibiotics to enable me to get rid of the cough. When I discovered cancer, it was my immediate response to schedule surgery. Traditional, all-American medical care at its finest.

But over the past ten years, I’ve discovered a totally different world of healing. Attention in advance to wellness minimizes the likelihood of illness. Prompt application of time-proven herbal tonics enables my body to fight off the illness without the adverse effect of many pharmaceuticals.

The past couple of weeks is a good illustration of what can happen – at least it did for me; I don’t know if anyone else would have had the same experience.

The adventure began with a three-week stay in a humid part of the country, near the Gulf coast. After a couple weeks of working daily in a room which had been used as a storage facility until converted overnight to office space, I developed a steadily worsening cough. It progressed to the point that I had difficulty getting to sleep, and even woke up with my chest aching.

Seeking advice of one I know to be familiar with herbal remedies, I obtained a one-ounce bottle of Herbs, etc. “Lung Tonic.” As suggested, I took a dropperful every three or four hours for about four days, then as my cough let up, reduced the frequency to a couple times a day and finally once a day. One week after beginning the Lung Tonic, my cough was gone. I had used one-half ounce of the tonic.

Not feeling quite right yet in spite of sleeping far more than I normally do, I followed a suggestion to try bioAllers “Mold, Yeast & Dust” allergy treatment. Following package directions, I took 15 drops under my tongue every 3 to 4 hours. Within four days, I felt no need to continue. Although I still can sleep a little longer than I usually do, my symptoms are otherwise completely gone.

This is not even remotely a suggestion that you should copy what I did. I am not an herbalist, much less an MD. My point is that my body and yours are naturally equipped to heal without pharmaceuticals from many of the common maladies that affect us. There are times when the only reasonable course of action is to seek medical treatment. The distinction is that I have assumed responsibility for my own wellness, and choose whenever possible to treat my body with respect for its innate ability to heal. Rather than treat symptoms, I want to treat causes. Rather than submit to risky pharmaceuticals, I choose natural cures if available. My wellness is my concern, and I suggest that each of us should take charge of his own wellness.

Paradigm Shift Underway!

What goes around comes around.

Hippocrates’ opinion was that wellness comes from what we eat: “Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.”

Then we discovered the magic of medicine, and learned to neglect nutrition. We also seemed to ignore the writings of Paracelsus, sometimes called the father of toxicology, in the early 1500’s, in this description of pharmacology: "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."

By the late 20^th century we had reached the point of creating food to satisfy taste more than nutrition, and turning over to the medical industry the challenge of keeping us alive and “healthy” (free of symptoms). With the growth of the “health care industry” and proliferation of pharmaceuticals, we turned over to professionals what had traditionally been a personal responsibility. A brief study of the status of our national health reveals the fallacy of that move – despite our spending the highest amount on health care, we recently ranked only 39^th in wellness among nations of the world.

The return to the original paradigm is underway. The efforts of such medical doctors as Dean Ornish (author of Dr Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease … The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery, Random House 1990), the professional community is slowly realizing that slash, burn, and poison (a.k.a. surgery, radiation, and chemo) are not truly remedies for what ails us. The painstaking research of career professionals such as T. Colin Campbell, PhD (The China Study, Benbella Books, Dallas, TX: 2004) has documented in very clear terms the linkage between diet, lifestyle, and wellness. Even economists are catching on! Paul Zane Pilzer, in The Wellness Revolution … How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2002, describes the transition from health care to wellness.

The saddest thing about paradigm shifts is also the greatest joy: When the paradigm shifts, everyone starts at zero! Just as buggy whip manufacturers were left out of the automobile industry, the medical industry will wake up one day soon and wonder where all the patients are. Meanwhile, those who join the growing Wellness Revolution will age without as much aging, will heal themselves of (or better yet, prevent) many of the common diseases of aging (a.k.a. diseases of affluence). Agribusiness will slump as wellness-conscious consumers move more and more to organics and heirloom foods.

As with any paradigm shift, some are pioneers, some go with the crowd, and some will hold out to the bitter end – they will die rather than switch (literally). Will you join me as a pioneer before it is too late and you get trampled by the crowd?

Nutrition

Everything I have to say will be consistent with what I have learned from the Bible, and with my best understanding of current nutritional research. Although I am not a physician nor a certified nutritionist, I have greatly enhanced my wellness by following what I have learned by extensive study. A few selected references are listed on the Authorities page (below).

No matter what your wellness concern, it is likely to be improved by proper nutrition. For an overall perspective, see the Wheel of Wellness also (below).

From the consistent teaching of the Authorities, I strongly encourage everyone to adopt a whole foods, plant-based diet. Dr. Colin Campbell found animal protein to be the switch that turns cancer on (and lack of it turns cancer off!). Further, in decades of research, he found that the less animal products one consumes, the better the prospect for wellness. Dr. Dean Ornish found that a diet low in meat and fat was very beneficial to those with heart disease. Also, the trend toward perpared food has adversely affected the wellness of western society; the less processing our food gets, the better its nutritive value. The typical western diet includes about 42% fat (mostly animal fat), far above the 30% in the "Recommended Dietary Goals for the U.S.", and even farther above the 12% fat in the macrobiotic diet. Which provides the best wellness? Without question, people on the macrobiotic or Hallelujah diet have wellness far better than the typical consumer of the western diet.

I personally have adapted the Hallelujah Diet as my guide for eating. If I had known about macrobiotics sooner, I might have tried it instead; they appear to be comparable in terms of effectiveness. I am not aware of any detailed comparisons, nor of anyone who switched from one to the other and found better wellness. There are countless witnesses to the wellness benefit of changing from the typical western diet to either Hallelujah Diet or macrobiotics.

I also strongly encourage the avoidance of manufactured beverages. Many contain sugar in quantities that are far in excess of what the body can deal with, contributing to our epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Diet beverages are even worse; not only is Aspartame (Nutrasweet), the most common sugar substitute, poison, but also the demonstrated effect of diet beverages is to induce the body to consume more sweets. The proven effect of diet beverages is continual weight gain; don't take my word for it -- research it for yourself.

The beverage of choice at my table (whether at home or away) is Wellness Water. It hydrates far better than other waters on the market: it has been filtered to remove objectionable materials, and it has been enhanced to provide the properties that hydrate better.

Wellness Authorities

Each of us has found sources of information that we trust and rely on. Following are some of those on whom I depend for accurate, appropriate information regarding wellness.

The Holy Bible . Choose your translation and study it. This is the first and best reference for all matters of life and wellness.

The China Study, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Benbella Books, Dallas, TX: 2004 Reading this book with an open mind can be a life-altering experience. Dr. Campbell spent decades as the foremost nutritional researcher in the US, then published his conclusions in clear and convincing explanation of the impact of diet and exercise on wellness.

Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease -- the only system scientifically proven to reverse heart disease without drugs or surgery, Dean Ornish, M.D., Random House, NY:1990.

Your Body's Many Cries for Water -- You are not sick, you are thirsty! Don't treat thirst with medications, F. Batmanghelidj, M.D. Global Health Solutions, Falls Church,VA: 1992 - 1997

For many years, the Hallelujah Diet has supported the return to wellness of many a person who was concerned for his health. Rev George Malkmus learned from others and put together this program to bring wellness to any who will listen. Study the Hallelujah Acres website to learn more, then call me (877 371-1524) or email me, myron@hopeunlimitedinc.com, to learn where I have suggested improvements to the Hallelujah Diet.

The Macrobiotic Way -- The complete macrobiotic diet & exercist book, Michio Kushi, Avery, Garden City Park, NY: 1985 - 1993. An excellent first book on the background and principles of the macrobiotic life. Includes numerous examples and testimonials.

The Wheel of Wellness

Picture a wheel, a simple wheel with six spokes.

The names of the spokes are:

SPIRITUAL LIFE
RELATIONSHIPS
ATTITUDE
REST
INTAKE
ACTIVITY

What they represent are:

SPIRITUAL LIFE -- knowing God, saved by grace for good work, true to being created in His image

RELATIONSHIPS -- forgiving, compassionate, loving my neighbor as myself, at peace with others

ATTITUDE -- optimistic and able to cope when “life happens,” a positive outlook on life

REST -- sufficient sleep and relaxation, renewing my mind and my body as needed

INTAKE -- consuming just what my body needs for adequate nutrition; clean environment

ACTIVITY -- exercise, developing bone, muscle, endurance, and balance

If your spokes are in balance, the wheel of your life rolls along smoothly.
If one or more spokes of your wheel are short or missing, you will have a bumpy ride!

True wellness is more than just health; it is having a healthy, compassionate heart and mind in a healthy body.
I can imagine situations in which a person may be physically limited and still fit my definition of wellness.

There may be other significant spokes. If you have identified them, please let me know.

© 2006 W Myron Remington