Fight Dementia

Fight Dementia

The secret is to take at least two heaping tablespoons of medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil or coconut oil every day, without fail.

by Dr. Larry Wilson — 

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are costly, debilitating and heartbreaking conditions affecting millions of people worldwide. The incidence of dementia is also expected to increase dramatically in the next 10 to 20 years. Therefore, anything that can be done to limit it is worth doing.

Conventional medical doctors often do not know the cause of dementia; however, many cases can be stopped, and some can be reversed using nutritional methods. This may sound amazing, but it simply involves applied biochemistry.

Causes of dementia

1. Yeast in the brain — Chronic yeast infections are common today due to copper imbalance and a diet containing sugars. Foods that contain sugars, including all fruit and fruit juices, tend to feed yeast in the body. Yeasts, such as candida albicans and others, secrete alcohol and acetaldehyde, which are toxic to the brain.

2. So-called “brain diabetes” — This interesting condition consists of an inability of the brain to utilize glucose properly. As a result, the brain basically starves. This causes a progressive dementia that is very severe and will end in death if it is not promptly reversed.

The good news is that this type of dementia is quite easy to stop and even reverse completely. The secret is to take at least two heaping tablespoons of medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil or coconut oil every day, without fail. These special fats will nourish a brain that cannot utilize glucose properly. As a result, the cells in the brain will become properly nourished and the dementia will go away, especially if it is done before it progresses too far. If actual brain cell death occurs, recovery will not be as complete, but there will be some improvement.

A vicious cycle is common with this type of dementia. As the brain starves for fuel or glucose, the person wants to eat more food. Usually, one eats the wrong food, which causes weight gain and more stress on the sugar-handling systems of the body. As a result, the brain diabetes becomes worse and this, in turn, increases the craving for food. The result is weight gain, metabolic syndrome and worsening diabetes. Drugs, such as insulin and oral diabetic medication, do not treat this condition because it has to do with nutrition and deeper metabolic disturbances.

3. Pharmaceutical (or recreational) drug use — Toxicity from medications of all sorts, even over-the-counter remedies, can have powerful effects on the nervous system.

For example, drugs can reduce vitamin levels. Others interfere with digestion and elimination, or damage the liver or kidneys, impairing general health. Others slow blood circulation, which can affect circulation to the brain.

Some high blood pressure drugs, for example, reduce the force of the heart. They successfully reduce blood pressure and may prevent a stroke; however, they can reduce blood flow to the brain as well. Some heart medications, glaucoma drugs and others may do the same. Any drug that reduces blood flow or heart stress may reduce circulation to the brain. This can affect memory and other cognitive functions, to some degree.

Anesthesia used in operations often affects memory and cognition. For example, heart bypass surgery often causes some degree of memory and cognitive loss because it is a long operation that requires a lot of anesthesia. Many other classes of drugs may also have side effects that alter brain function. Contrary to what some people believe, most drugs can remain in the body for years and perhaps forever, unless one makes a determined effort to remove them.

Here are some steps to help reduce your drug usage:

• Stop any drug you really do not have to take. Surprisingly, many doctors prescribe drugs just for “comfort” or other reasons that are not essential. Yet they all have side effects, one of which may be dementia.

• Reduce your dosages as much as possible.

• Read the side effects of all drugs you take, even over-the-counter drugs. If dementia, memory loss or some other brain abnormality is one of them, ask your doctor about changing the drug to one that does not have this potential side effect.

Note that if you are taking multiple medications, the side effects cannot even be predicted, as there are so many possible combinations. I believe it is rare for anyone to need to take more than one or two drugs. Many times, natural products will work as well or even better, and they are often less costly.

4. Malnutrition — This is another common cause of dementia. It is a subtle and insidious form of malnutrition, in that one is eating regularly, but not digesting or absorbing food adequately. This is extremely common in older people today. Here is more information about this type of malnutrition:

• It has a slow and insidious (hidden) progression.

• Signs and symptoms are not visibly obvious.

• Symptoms are usually confused with other diseases, since malnutrition can cause almost any symptom imaginable.

• It is also far more common than imagined, as it affects most people as they age.

• Often it does not matter whether one eats a balanced or wholesome diet because the problem has to do with the absorption and digestion of food, not just the kind of food one eats.

Deficiency of B complex vitamins can lead to dementia. This is well-known in the medical literature. However, most doctors do not insist on tests or B vitamin shots, although they are very inexpensive, simple to give and can reverse an early case of dementia if this is the cause.

Vitamin B12, in particular, is required for proper mental function. Deficiency symptoms include confusion, memory loss and other brain-related symptoms. It is a crime that this is not recognized more often within the medical field.

If a person is following a nutritional balancing program and taking a GB-3 digestive enzyme with every meal, I do not think supplementary vitamin B12 is needed. However, for those not on a nutritional balancing program, I recommend a vitamin B12 shot for everyone over the age of about 65 or 70, at least one per year, but preferably more. This can help prevent irreversible dementia.

All seniors should also take extra vitamin B12 in tablet form or better yet, in sublingual lozenges, to offset the normal decline in the ability to absorb this vital vitamin. This would actually completely prevent many cases of dementia.

Why are most seniors malnourished? Several reasons have made this virtually an epidemic.

• Most seniors eat less due to reduced hunger, a diminished ability to chew food and weaker digestion. These factors, alone, can lead to malnutrition.

• Most seniors do not want to cook as much anymore, so they eat out more often and buy prepared packaged meals. Both are less nutritious than home-cooked meals.

• Many elderly people do not digest food as well due to age, use of pharmaceuticals, low enzymes or other conditions that affect digestion or energy level. Poorer digestion means one will be less nourished by one’s food.

• Many seniors do not like eating anymore. It is normal for appetite to decrease with age, and one reason is a zinc deficiency. As explained above, many nutritional deficiencies worsen with age, leading seniors and even middle-aged people to reduce the quantity and quality of the food they eat.

• Seniors often have more stress because they are not as strong and resilient as they were when young. Stress reduces digestion, while at the same time increases the need for vital nutrients.

• Even if one eats enough excellent food and can digest and absorb nutrients, today’s hybrid foods are not as healthful as food grown 50 or 100 years ago. More food is grown per acre today, but its mineral content is also much lower. Thus, one can slowly become malnourished even while eating well, and digesting and absorbing food correctly.

• Vegetarian and raw food diets are harmful in the extreme, in my view, although I know some health authorities recommend them.

• Not taking nutritional supplements can cause malnutrition. Sadly, some doctors and media outlets falsely claim that nutritional supplements are not needed, or are harmful, when the truth is the exact opposite. A few recent studies questioned the value of nutritional supplements, but were poorly controlled and perhaps even rigged to produce negative results. Millions of pages of medical research from the past 70 years support the use of and the amazing value of nutritional supplements.

5. Toxic metals and toxic chemicals — Everyone’s body accumulates more toxic substances as they age. This is due to:

However, many cases of dementia can be stopped, and some can be reversed with nutritional methods.

• A much more sluggish metabolism and, with age, most people’s kidneys, liver and bowels do not work as well.

• Impaired nutrition occurs when one eats fewer essential minerals, as the body absorbs more toxic metals from the environment.

• Many pharmaceuticals contain some toxic metals, such as mercury in flu shots and blood pressure drugs, aluminum in antacids and so forth.

• Toxic metals can be found in food and other environmental exposures. The worst offender is aluminum, which is directly associated in some studies with memory loss and perhaps other dementia symptoms.

For example, excess aluminum is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. It is added to drinking water and is found in all prepared foods made with water, such as beverages, breads and cooked items of all types. Aluminum is also added to table salt and is found in antiperspirants, antacids (except Tums®) and other common products we touch or ingest, such as buffered aspirin and other over-the-counter products.

6. Impaired circulation to the brain — A common reason for this cause of dementia is arteriosclerosis, affecting circulation to the brain. Another reason is inactivity, which reduces general circulation to some degree. Dehydration and heart problems may also contribute to impaired circulation to the brain.

All of these health conditions can be corrected with a nutritional balancing program. I do not recommend chelation therapy to improve circulation, although it can help. It is less effective and not as safe as a nutritional balancing program.

7. Subtle infections in or near the brain — Some people have subtle infections in the ears, sinuses, teeth or in the brain itself. Most of them give off toxins called endotoxins and/or exotoxins, which can affect cognition, memory and other brain activities. Chronic infections can occur at locations distant from the brain, but their toxins circulate and can affect the brain. Most of them are not revealed on X-rays, blood tests or other medical scans.

These infections can be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. As one ages, they can flare up because the body’s ability to fight them off declines.

8. Both mental and physical inactivity — This has been shown to increase dementia in numerous medical studies. Even simple mental activities, such as doing crossword puzzles or watching television, improve brain circulation to some degree.

9. Other — Rarely, a brain tumor or other disease can cause dementia; however, this should be ruled out.

Correction of dementia

1. Following a complete nutritional balancing program can help for dozens of reasons. These include re-mineralizing the body, removing toxic metals, reducing toxic chemicals in the brain and nervous system, healing chronic infections, balancing key mineral ratios, restoring the sugar-handling system of the body, and restoring adaptive energy and vitality to the body.

I only recommend a nutritional balancing program with any of the approved practitioners listed at drlwilson.com. This is important because the programs are not that simple to set up.

2. Here are some extra instructions for those following a nutritional balancing program:

• Take as few prescription and over-the-counter drugs, as humanly possible.

• Use your mind, breathe deeply and exercise a little each day.

• In addition to the supplements on a nutritional balancing program, the following simple nutritional supplements may help: about 800-1200 iu daily of natural source vitamin E; gingko biloba, an herb sold in most health stores (quality varies, so ask for an excellent brand); and coenzyme Q-10, about 100 mg or more daily, preferably in a lozenge for best absorption.

For more advanced cases, following a nutritional balancing program may be difficult or impossible unless excellent care is given. To follow a nutritional balancing program properly, a person with dementia will almost always require a lot of assistance, at least until some cognitive function can be restored.

Dr. Lawrence Wilson has a medical degree and has been in the health field for more than 25 years. His books include Nutritional Balancing and Hair Mineral Analysis, Legal Guidelines for Unlicensed Practitioners, Healing Ourselves and Manual of Sauna Therapy and The Real Self. He also co-authored Toxic Metals in Human Health and Disease and contributed to The Dangers of Socialized Medicine. www.drlwilson.com or 928-445-7690.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 33, Number 2, April/May 2014.