Article from Natural News by Sherry Baker

January 16, 2009

When people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) " act up" and show signs of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as aggression and agitation, they are often given antipsychotic drugs. Now, it turns out, that's a practice that could be deadly. The result of a long-term study , just published online and in the February edition of The Lancet Neurology journal shows there's a large increased risk of severe side effects and death in patients receiving these medications.

What's more, they hasten mental deterioration.

Dr. Clive Ballard of the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases at King's College in London and her colleagues are the first researchers to document long-term data for AD patients given antipsychotic drugs. They followed 165 patients with AD between the ages of 67 and 100 who resided in four United Kingdom facilities between 2001 and 2004. The research subjects were randomly assigned to take antipsychotic medications (thioridazine, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, trifluorperazine, or risperidone) or an oral placebo.
 
After a year, there was 70% survival in the antipsychotic group compared with 77% in placebo. But after two years, there was a far bigger difference in the death rate. Survival was 46% in the antipsychotic group and 71% in the placebo group. And at three years, the difference was even more stunning. Only 30% of people being given antipsychotics were still alive while almost 60 percent of those on placebos, inert substances with no drug activity, were still living. When the scientists computed the death rate for the AD patients throughout all the years, they found it was 42% lower in the placebo group than in the antipsychotic group.

So what adverse effects did the drugs have on the people with Alzheimers? Specifically, they were found to increase the incidence of Parkinson's disease, sedation, edema, chest infections, stroke and death . Those taking antipsychotics also experienced an accelerated decline in their brain function. In a statement released to the media, the scientists said their research highlights the need to seek less harmful treatments for AD patients who exhibit neuropsychiatric symptoms.

"Our data add further serious safety concerns about the long-term use of antipsychotics in this population, and clinicians should certainly try to replace antipsychotics with safer management approaches. Several studies have shown that psychological management can replace antipsychotic therapy without any appreciable worsening of neuropsychiatric symptoms... Our opinion is that there is still an important but limited place for atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of severe neuropsychiatric manifestations, particularly aggression, of AD. However, the accumulating safety concerns, including the substantial increase in long-term mortality, emphasize the urgent need to put an end to unnecessary and prolonged prescribing," the researchers stated.

The study results are available here: http://press.thelancet.com/TLNantipsych...

Article from Natural News by Jonathan Benson, Monday, August 06, 2012

Emerging research on the widespread degenerative brain disease known as Alzheimer's suggests that this prevalent form of dementia is actually a type of diabetes. Published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, a recent study out of Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) confirms that Alzheimer's is marked by brain insulin resistance and corresponding inflammation, a condition that some researchers are now referring to as type-3 diabetes.

Dr. Suzanne de la Monte from RIH is the one responsible for making this fascinating connection, having found in her research that diabetes is closely associated with several key neuronal factors implicated in dementia. It turns out that Alzheimer's progresses as a result of the brain developing resistance to insulin, which in turn prevents proper lipid (fat) metabolism. Over time, these lipids build up in the brain rather than properly absorb, which results in increased stress and inflammation, as well as the symptoms commonly associated with dementia.

"This study points out that once AD (Alzheimer's Disease) is established, therapeutic efforts should target several different pathways -- not just one," says Dr. de la Monte. "The reason is that a positive feedback loop gets going, making AD progress. We have to break the vicious cycle. Restoring insulin responsiveness and insulin depletion will help, but we need to reduce brain stress and repair the metabolic problems that cause the brain to produce toxins."

Eating more healthy saturated fats like coconut oil can help prevent, cure Alzheimer's (See more about the health benefits of coconut oil here: Healthy oils)

Since many elderly individuals that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol levels, the first logical step would be to stop taking these drugs. Not only have statins been shown to cause and exacerbate Alzheimer's, they have also been shown to cause diabetes. So taking them, as many elderly dementia patients do, runs contrary to common sense, and will only make the problem worse.

As we covered recently here at NaturalNews, the human body needs cholesterol in order to stay healthy. If your cholesterol levels are too high, or if cholesterol is clogging your arteries, it means that your body has an inflammation problem that is preventing the proper absorption and use of cholesterol. Cholesterol is not the problem, in other words -- your body's chronic inflammation is the problem. Consuming more healthy saturated fats like coconut oil can not only help repair the inflammation problem that promotes the progression of Alzheimer's, but it can also increase the absorption of cholesterol in the brain, which in turn promotes healthy neuronal function.

Such advice runs contrary to the mainstream medical system's misguided philosophies about health, but science actually shows that the human body requires saturated fats and cholesterol, and that these fats are vital for maintaining optimal brain health.

"While it is positive to see studies like this help us understand some of the causes of Alzheimer's Disease, turning to drugs to treat these symptoms is heading in the wrong direction," says Health Impact News (HIN) about the RIH study. "Type-2 and type-3 diabetes is a lifestyle issue, and can be controlled or even prevented by dietary choices and avoiding too many drugs. There has also been tremendous success in controlling and eliminating diabetes through a low-carb and high-fat diet."

By Dr. Mercola

Iron is essential for virtually every life form, including humans, where it is a key part of various proteins and enzymes, involved in the transport of oxygen and the regulation of cell growth and differentiation, among other uses.

One of the most important roles of iron is to provide hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells) a mechanism through which it can bind to oxygen and carry it throughout your tissues, as without proper oxygenation your cells quickly start dying. If you have too little iron, you may experience fatigue, decreased immunity or iron-deficiency anemia, which can be serious if left untreated.

However, if you have more iron than your body needs to satisfy your hemoglobin requirement (for cell oxygenation), the excess becomes a dangerous surplus. Your body has a very limited capacity to excrete iron, which means it can build up in your tissues and organs, a dangerous occurrence because iron is a potent oxidizer and can damage your body tissues contributing to serious health issues, including Alzheimer's disease.

Reducing Iron Levels May Protect Your Brain from Alzheimer's

High iron levels in your blood can lead to the production of free radicals that can damage neurons in your brain. It's also believed that iron accumulates at high levels, and is extremely reactive in the beta-amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. A new animal study revealed that reducing iron levels in the blood triggered levels of beta-amyloid and phosphorylated tau protein, which disrupts the ability of neurons to conduct electrical signals, to return to normal.

1 Experts on metal metabolism in the body said the research highlights the role of metal ions in the development of Alzheimer's, as excess iron accumulation in the brain is a consistent observation in Alzheimer's disease. Separate research also showed that reducing excess iron in your brain can alleviate Alzheimer's-like symptoms in mice,2 while measuring brain iron has been suggested as a way to detect Alzheimer's disease in its early stages.3

Iron is also known to accumulate specifically in brain regions associated with memory and thought processes, which are gradually lost as Alzheimer's progresses. At this time it's not entirely clear whether the excess iron is the result of external sources, such as supplements or metal pans, or due to a genetic predisposition to absorbing too much iron or biochemical changes that cause an imbalance internally -- likely it's a combination of factors. What is known is that too much iron in the wrong places is clearly toxic, and when accumulated in neurons may be a "final end-stage event in neurodegeneration."4

How do You Know if Your Iron Levels are High?

Checking your iron levels is done through a simple blood test called a serum ferritin test. I believe this is one of the most important tests that everyone should have done on a regular basis as part of a preventive, proactive health screen. The test measures the carrier molecule of iron, a protein found inside cells called ferritin, which stores the iron. If your ferritin levels are low it means your iron levels are also low.

The healthy range of serum ferritin lies between 20 and 80 ng/ml. Below 20 is a strong indicator that you are iron deficient, and above 80 suggests you have an iron surplus. The ideal range is between 40-60 ng/ml. The higher the number over 100 the worse the iron overload, with levels over 300 being particularly toxic and will eventually cause serious damage in nearly everyone that sustains those levels long term. Fortunately most premenopausal women lose iron every month when they menstruate. As a result, menstruating women rarely suffer from iron overload syndromes, as removing blood from your body is the most effective way to lower iron levels. However, most adult men and postmenopausal women tend to be at a high risk for iron overload and all of its toxicity, as they don't have this monthly blood loss.

Additionally, some people also have a genetic predisposition to absorbing too much iron, which is called either hemochromatosis or hemosiderosis. Interestingly, one of the most common causes of excess iron is the regular consumption of alcohol. Alcohol consumed on a regular basis will increase the absorption of any iron in your diet. For instance, if you drink some wine with your steak, you will likely be absorbing more iron than you need. Other potential causes of high iron levels include:

• Cooking in iron pots or pans. Cooking acidic foods in these types of pots or pans will cause even higher levels of iron absorption. Eating processed food products like cereals and white breads that are "fortified' with iron. The iron they use in these products is inorganic iron not much different than rust and it is far more dangerous than the iron in meat.
• Drinking well water that is high in iron. The key here is to make sure you have some type of iron precipitator and/or a reverse osmosis water filter.
• Taking multiple vitamins and mineral supplements, as both of these frequently have iron in them.

What to Do if You Have High Iron Levels

Some people advise using iron chelators like phytic acid or IP6, but I don't think that is a wise approach as donating your blood is a far safer and more effective and inexpensive approach for this problem. If, for some reason, a blood donor center is unable to accept your blood for donation you can obtain a prescription for therapeutic phlebotomy. At the same time, you will want to be sure to avoid consuming excess iron in the form of supplements, in your drinking water (well water), from iron cookware, or in fortified processed foods. Certain phenolic-rich herbs and spices can reduce iron absorption, such as green tea and rosemary.5 Curcumin actually acts as an iron chelator, and in mice studies, diets supplemented with this spice extract exhibited a decline in levels of ferritin in the liver.6 Lastly, astaxanthin, which has been researched to have over 100 potential health benefits,7 has been shown to reduce iron-induced oxidative damage.8

Keep in mind, however, that iron is only one problematic metal for your brain. Others, including zinc, aluminum and copper, are also known to accumulate in your brain and are similarly linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Tips for Preventing Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is currently at epidemic proportions, with 5.4 million Americans -- including one in eight people aged 65 and over -- living with Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association's 2011 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures.9 By 2050, this is expected to jump to 16 million, and in the next 20 years it is projected that Alzheimer's will affect one in four Americans. You do not, however, have to feel powerless against this disease, as although there is no known cure as of yet, there are simple strategies available to significantly lower your risk. Some of the best strategies for Alzheimer's prevention, aside from avoiding excess iron, include:

• Fructose. Most everyone benefits from keeping their total fructose consumed to below 25 grams per day. Fructose has several modes of neurotoxicity, including causing damage to the circulatory system upon which the health of nervous system depends, as well as changing the brain's craving mechanism. Since the average person is exceeding this recommendation by 300% this is a pervasive and serious issue. I view this as the MOST important step you can take. Additionally, when your liver is busy processing fructose (which your liver turns into fat), it severely hampers its ability to make cholesterol, an essential building block of the brain crucial to its health. This is yet another important facet that explains how and why excessive fructose consumption is so detrimental to your health.
• Improve Magnesium Levels.  There is some exciting preliminary research strongly suggesting a decrease in Alzheimer symptoms with increase levels of magnesium in the brain.  Unfortunately most magnesium supplements do not pass the blood brain levels, but a new one magnesium threonate appears to do and holds some promise for the future for treating this condition.
• Optimize your vitamin D levels with safe sun exposure. Strong links between low levels of vitamin D in Alzheimer's patients10 and poor outcomes on cognitive tests have been revealed. Researchers believe that optimal vitamin D levels may enhance the amount of important chemicals in your brain and protect brain cells by increasing the effectiveness of the glial cells in nursing damaged neurons back to health. Vitamin D may also exert some of its beneficial effects on Alzheimer's through its anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. Sufficient vitamin D is imperative for proper functioning of your immune system to combat inflammation that is also associated with Alzheimer's.
• Keep your fasting insulin levels below 3. This is indirectly related to fructose, as it will clearly lead to insulin resistance. However other sugars, grains and lack of exercise are also important factors.
• Vitamin B12: According to a small Finnish study recently published in the journal Neurology,11 people who consume foods rich in B12 may reduce their risk of Alzheimer's in their later years. For each unit increase in the marker of vitamin B12 (holotranscobalamin) the risk of developing Alzheimer's was reduced by 2 percent. Very high doses of B vitamins have also been found to treat Alzheimer's disease and reduce memory loss,
• Eat a nutritious diet, rich in folate, such as the one described in my nutrition plan. Strict vegetarian diets have been shown to increase your Alzheimer's risk,12 whereas diets high in omega-3's lower your risk.13 However, vegetables, without question, are your best form of folate, and we should all eat plenty of fresh raw veggies every day.
• High-quality animal based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. (I recommend avoiding most fish because although fish is naturally high in omega-3, most fish are now severely contaminated with mercury.) High intake of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA help by preventing cell damage caused by Alzheimer's disease, thereby slowing down its progression, and lowering your risk of developing the disorder. Researchers have also said DHA "dramatically reduces the impact of the Alzheimer's gene."
• Avoid and remove mercury from your body. Dental amalgam fillings are one of the major sources of mercury, however you should be healthy prior to having them removed. Once you have adjusted to following the diet described in my optimized nutrition plan, you can follow the mercury detox protocol and then find a biological dentist to have your amalgams removed.
• Avoid aluminum, such as antiperspirants, non-stick cookware, vaccine adjuvants, etc.
• Exercise regularly. It's been suggested that exercise can trigger a change in the way the amyloid precursor protein is metabolized,14 thus, slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer's. Exercise also increases levels of the protein PGC-1alpha. Research has also shown that people with Alzheimer's have less PGC-1alpha in their brains,15 and cells that contain more of the protein produce less of the toxic amyloid protein associated with Alzheimer's. I would strongly recommend reviewing the Peak Fitness Technique for my specific recommendations.
• Avoid flu vaccinations as most contain both mercury and aluminum!
• Eat plenty of blueberries. Wild blueberries, which have high anthocyanin and antioxidant content, are known to guard against Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases.
• Challenge your mind daily. Mental stimulation, especially learning something new, such as learning to play an instrument or a new language, is associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's. Researchers suspect that mental challenge helps to build up your brain, making it less susceptible to the lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease.
• Avoid anticholinergic and statin drugs. Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to increase your risk of dementia. These drugs include certain nighttime pain relievers, antihistamines, sleep aids, certain antidepressants, medications to control incontinence, and certain narcotic pain relievers. A study found that those who took drugs classified as 'definite anticholinergics' had a four times higher incidence of cognitive impairment.16 Regularly taking two of these drugs further increased the risk of cognitive impairment. Statin drugs are particularly problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol, deplete the brain of coenzyme Q10 and neurotransmitter precursors, and prevent adequate delivery of essential fatty acids and fat-soluble antioxidants to the brain by inhibiting the production of the indispensable carrier biomolecule known as low-density lipoprotein.

Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol -- an 80-year old drug once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders -- can reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

Scientists, however, had a variety of theories to attempt to explain how a single compound could have such similar effects on three unrelated neurodegenerative disorders. Researchers at McGill University have discovered a dramatic possible new answer: According to Dr. Siegfried Hekimi and colleagues at McGill's Department of Biology, clioquinol acts directly on a protein called CLK-1, often informally called "clock-1," and might slow down the aging process. The advance online edition of their study was published in Oct. 2008 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. "Clioquinol is a very powerful inhibitor of clock-1," explained Hekimi, McGill's Strathcona Chair of Zoology and Robert Archibald & Catherine Louise Campbell Chair in Developmental Biology. "Because clock-1 affects longevity in invertebrates and mice, and because we're talking about three age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesize that clioquinol affects them by slowing down the rate of aging."

Once commonly prescribed in Europe and Asia for gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea and shigella, clioquinol was withdrawn from the market after being blamed for a devastating outbreak of subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) in Japan in the 1960s. However, because no rigorous scientific study was conducted at the time, and because clioquinol was used safely by millions before and after the Japanese outbreak, some researchers think its connection to SMON has yet to be proven. The exact mechanism of how clioquinol inhibits CLK-1 is still under investigation, Hekimi said. "One possibility is that metals are involved as clioquinol is a metal chelator," he explained. Chelation is a type of binding to metal ions and is often used to treat heavy metal poisoning.

Hekimi is optimistic but cautious when asked whether clioquinol could eventually become an anti-aging treatment. "The drug affects a gene which when inhibited can slow down aging," he said. "The implication is that we can change the rate of aging. This might be why clioquinol is able to work on this diversity of diseases that are all age-dependent."

However, he admits to being concerned about how people may interpret his results. "The danger is that you can buy a kilogram of this compound at a chemical wholesaler, but we don't want people to start experimenting on themselves. Clioquinol can be a very toxic substance if abused, and far more research is required."
http://www.mcgill.ca

Article from Green Med by Sayer Ji, founder

April 4th 2013

Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs), the primary type of fat found within coconut oil, have been found to boost cognitive performance in older adults suffering from memory disorders as serious as Alzheimer's -- and not after months or even days of treatment, but after a single 40 ml dose!

A groundbreaking 2004 study published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging found that the administration of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), the primary fat type found in coconut oil, almost immediately improved cognitive function in older adults with memory disorders. The study involved 20 subjects with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment who, on separate days, were given either emulsified MCTs or a placebo. The researchers observed a significant increase in blood plasma levels of the ketone body beta-hydroxylutyrate (beta-OHB) after only 90 minutes of treatment, and depending on the apolipoprotein E genotype of the subject tested, beta-OHB levels either continued to rise or held constant between the 90 and 120 minute blood draws in the treatment condition. Remarkably, cognitive testing revealed that this brief MCT treatment facilitated improved performance on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-cog) in 4 subjects within the study group. Moreover, "higher ketone values were associated with greater improvement in paragraph recall with MCT treatment relative to placebo across all subjects (P=0.02)."[i]

The details of the study procedure was described as follows: The study was conducted with a double-blind placebo controlled design with two study visits. During each visit, subjects received one of two isocaloric conditions (690calories) in a randomized order: emulsified MCTs, or emulsified long chain triglycerides as a placebo.

NeoBee 895 (Stepan, Inc.) was used for MCTs. To increase palatability, heavy whipping cream was used as a source of long chain triglycerides and as a source of long chain mono- and di-glycerides for emulsification. MCTs (40ml) were blended with 152ml heavy whipping cream to create the emulsified test sample. Heavy whipping cream alone (232ml) was blended to create the placebo. Subjects fasted from 8:00 p.m. on the night prior to the study visit. They arrived in the morning and blood was drawn to determine plasma β-OHB levels and APOE genotyping (first visit only). Subjects then consumed the test beverage and rested quietly for 90min, after which blood was drawn and a 30-min cognitive testing session ensued. After testing, a final blood draw was taken.

How Medium Chain Triglycerides Work

How could a single dose of MCTs (40 ml or 2.7 tablespoons) cause an almost immediate improvement in cognitive performance in those suffering from cognitive impairments as serious as Alzheimer's disease? The explanation is found both in the unique metabolic needs of the brain and in the configuration of MCTs themselves. Whereas the primary fuel source for the energy-hungry brain is glucose, when insulin resistance and suboptimal metabolism (hypometabolism) develops in the brain, both the brain's structure and function are compromised. Ketone bodies provide a much needed alternative fuel source to glucose that can recharge metabolic processes within the brain, resulting in an almost immediate improvement in cognitive function.

MCTs are not like most fats we consume. For instance, due to their smaller size they do not form micelles and are not stored in adipose tissue. Whereas up to 97% of the dietary fats we ingest are made up of long-chain triglycerides (LCTs) which have been 14 and 18 carbons,[ii] MCTs have relatively shorter chain lengths of 5 to 12 carbons, making them easier to absorb and utilize. They are preferentially oxidized by the liver, and when provided in large enough quantities, they give rise to ketone bodies.[iii]

What is the best way to take MCTs? As we are advocates of whole food nutrition, coconut oil is our preferred source of these triglycerides, containing approximately 2/3^{rds MCTs by volume. Coconut oil also has a broad spectrum of other health benefits, which we highlighted in our previous article " 13 Evidence-Based Medicinal Properties of Coconut Oil."} Also, instead of treating coconut oil or MCTs as some new nutraceutical "magic bullet," almost as if we are just loading natural bullets into the same old outdated allopathic gun, try incorporating it into your diet in a way that displaces less healthy fats. For instance, replace that rancid, pro-inflammatory 'vegetable oil' (e.g. soy, grape seed, peanut, canola oil) you are using to fry an egg or bake with, with sublimely saturated, rancidity-resistant coconut oil.

Or, enjoy a delicious curry with coconut milk as a base. Because 25% of coconut milk is fat, and about 66% of that fat is MCT, you are still getting a healthy dose. It is always better to eat smaller amounts of truly therapeutic foods, enjoyed in the context of sharing, preparing and enjoying good food, so that you will ideally never have to use the heroic "food as medicine" approach after a serious disease has had the opportunity to set in. Think: use food so that medicine never becomes necessary.

For additional information view the testimonial of Dr. Mary Newport who discovered the benefits of

^{using coconut oil to treat her husband's Alzheimer's Disease}



Article from Natural News by Paul Fassa, citizen journalist November 12th, 2010

A doctor`s husband made a remarkable reversal of his serious Alzheimer`s problem by ingesting coconut oil daily. Dr. Mary Newport had her husband Steve get off the pharmaceutical Alzheimer`s drugs as his condition just kept worsening with them, along with added negative side effects.

Alzheimer`s disease affects over 5 million in the USA, and ranks seventh in deaths from diseases. Steve`s condition has improved greatly since coconut oil was included in his diet.

How Dr. Newport Found the Coconut Oil Solution

Mary had helped her husband Steve volunteer for a promising Alzheimer drug trial, but not in time to be accepted. She researched the new drug and discovered it was a pharmaceutical version of MCT oil, (Medium Chain Triglycerides). Then she realized that both coconut and palm kernel oils naturally contained MCTs. MCTs are easier to quickly digest than other types of fats. They require less bile and enzyme action for intestinal absorption, and they are metabolized quickly in the liver. Therefore, MCTs expend energy more rapidly and strongly with less fats storing in the blood and tissues. Metabolizing MCTs creates ketones. Recent research, which led to Big Pharma`s attempt to duplicate naturally occurring MCTs, has shown that ketones help protect against Alzheimer`s, even reverse it. Compared to Big Pharma`s synthetic version of MCT Oil, naturally sourced ketones remain in one`s body over twice as long, eight hours compared to three.

So Mary Newport`s investigation led her to a less expensive solution for her husband without the often predictable side effects of a pharmaceutical. Her sharing of the information benefits all of us. And lately more and more nutritional value has been attributed to coconut oil. But this is all relatively new knowledge.

This is Now; That Was Then

Since a few decades ago, coconut oil was demonized by the food processing industry`s quest to lower their cost, boost profit margins, and create longer shelf life by using hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Butter and palm oil were also included in the food industry`s fear campaigns to get consumer consent for using the more unhealthy trans fatty acid oils, including margarine. Until then, coconut and palm oils were used in all sorts of packaged foods and baked products. Butter was considered okay. That gradually changed until dangerous margarine and partially and fully hydrogenated cooking oils moved onto grocery shelves, packaged foods, and baked products - replacing the falsely demonized coconut and palm oils.

Recent research has debunked the emphasis of cholesterol dangers as exaggerated or even false. Even if saturated fats, such as coconut oil are high in "bad" cholesterol, trans fats or hydrogenated oils have been proven to be worse for human health, even toxic. Now real science and human experience are proving the health benefits of coconut oil. Almost all health food stores have it. Large quantities can be ordered on line. The ideal coconut oil is organic virgin. But not so ideal has some virtues remaining as well.

Coconut oil is considered a saturated fat because it is solid, though it begins melting above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, or 24 degrees Celsius. In addition to ingesting it, say with dark chocolate to make it yummy, coconut oil is one of the best oils for cooking because of its very high smoke temperature; this makes it less likely to turn toxic from excess heat than olive and other pure vegetable oils. Yes, saturated fats were falsely demonized and those lies were almost totally accepted by consumers and health professionals until recent years. But that was then, and this is now.

Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s Disease

October 5, 2010

(For more information, see Dr. Newport’s website)

How worried should drug companies be about supplements eating into their monopoly profits? A lot—as this story will show. Please share it with anyone you know who is suffering from Alzheimer’s or is worried about it.

Of course, just about everyone worries about Alzheimer’s. It currently afflicts 5.2 million people in the US and is the seventh leading cause of death. The cost of treating it is estimated at $148 billion. Mary Newport, MD, has been medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Florida since it opened in 2003. About the same time the unit opened, her husband Steve, then 53, began showing signs of progressive dementia, later diagnosed as Alzheimer’s Disease. "Many days, often for several days in a row, he was in a fog; couldn’t find a spoon or remember how to get water out of the refrigerator," she said.

They started him on Alzheimer’s drugs—Aricept, Namenda, Exelon—but his disease worsened steadily. (It should be noted that the latest research shows that the various Alzheimer’s drugs, like Aricept, have proven disappointing, with little real benefit and often distressing side effects.) When Dr. Newport couldn’t get her husband into a drug trial for a new Alzheimer’s medication, she started researching the mechanism behind Alzheimer’s. She discovered that with Alzheimer’s disease, certain brain cells may have difficulty utilizing glucose (made from the carbohydrates we eat), the brain’s principal source of energy. Without fuel, these precious neurons may begin to die. There is an alternative energy source for brain cells—fats known as ketones. If deprived of carbohydrates, the body produces ketones naturally.

But this is the hard way to do it—who wants to cut carbohydrates out of the diet completely? Another way to produce ketones is by consuming oils that have medium-chain triglycerides. When MCT oil is digested, the liver converts it into ketones. In the first few weeks of life, ketones provide about 25 percent of the energy newborn babies need to survive. Dr. Newport learned that the ingredient in the drug trial which was showing so much promise was simply MCT oil derived from coconut oil or palm kernel oil, and that a dose of 20 grams (about 20 ml or 4 teaspoons) was used to produce these results. When MCT oil is metabolized, the ketones which the body creates may, according to the latest research, not only protect against the incidence of Alzheimer’s, but may actually reverse it. Moreover, this is also a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), drug-resistant epilepsy, brittle type I diabetes, and type II (insulin-resistant) diabetes.

So Mr. Newport, not being able to get into the drug trial, started taking the coconut oil twice a day. At this point, he could barely remember how to draw a clock. Two weeks after adding coconut oil to his diet, his drawing improved. After 37 days, Steve’s drawing gained even more clarity. The oil seemed to "lift the fog," and in the first sixty days, Dr. Newport saw remarkable changes in him: every morning he was alert and happy, talkative, making jokes. His gait was "still a little weird," but his tremor was no longer very noticeable. He was able to concentrate on things that he wanted to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distractible and rarely accomplished anything unless he was directly supervised.

Over the next year, the dementia continued to reverse itself: he is able to run again, his reading comprehension has improved dramatically, and his short-term memory is improving—he often brings up events that happened days to weeks earlier and relays telephone conversations with accurate detail. A recent MRI shows that the brain atrophy has been completely halted.

Let’s take a moment to consider what actually happened here. Synthetic (patentable) Alzheimer’s drugs have failed. A drug company reluctantly decides to put a non-patentable natural substance (medium-chain triglycerides derived from coconut or palm) through an FDA trial. It works. But, darn it, a smart doctor figures out that a natural food can be substituted for the super-expensive drug. Not only that, the ketones from natural coconut oil last in the body longer than the drug version—eight hours instead of three hours. This is enough to make a drug company start worrying about its future. What if this natural health idea really catches on? Goodbye to monopoly profits!

Coconut oil can be found in many health food stores and even some grocery stores. One large chain sells a non-hydrogenated (no trans-fat) brand of coconut oil in a one-liter size (nearly 32 ounces) for about $7. It can be purchased in quantities as small as a pint and up to five gallons online. It is important to use coconut oil that is non-hydrogenated and contains no trans-fat. We would also strongly encourage the use of virgin oil (chemicals used to extract non-virgin oil are potentially dangerous, and better still, virgin organic, still quite reasonably priced.)

Sadly, you will not find any information on ketones, or the use of coconut oil or MCT oil, on the Alzheimer’s Association website. Coconut oil is not the only natural product that has the potential to turn Alzheimer’s around. We will cover some other ones, and drug industry efforts to steal some of them, in a future issue.