Doctors are testing whether four lifestyle changes can slow, stop, or even reverse Alzheimer's disease without drugs or surgery.
Dr. Dean Ornish, who founded the Preventive Medicine Institute in California, is leading the clinical trial.
“For the past 45 years, I have led research showing simple lifestyle changes: what we eat, how we respond to stress, how much exercise we get, how much love and socialization we get. “We have shown that access to medical support can not only help prevent, but in many cases reverse, the progression of one of the most common and costly chronic diseases,” said Orr, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Nish said.
Through his research, Ornish has found that lifestyle changes can reverse heart disease in some patients. Now he's looking to see if it's effective in fighting Alzheimer's disease.
“What's good for your heart is good for your brain, and we know that Alzheimer's disease and heart disease share many of the same underlying biological mechanisms,” Ornish said.
A healthy diet and exercise have been shown to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, but this study goes a step further to see if it can actually prevent or reverse the disease.
Study participants will follow a lifestyle medicine program that includes:
- Eat a whole foods, plant-based diet: “Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, ideally as close to natural as possible, minimally processed, low fat and low sugar,” says Ornish.
- Do moderate exercise: Ornish said incorporating 30 minutes to an hour of walking and strength training three times a week equates to moderate exercise.
- Reduce stress: Use meditation and other yoga-based stress management techniques.
- Increased social support: Join a support group or spend quality time with friends and family.
“It boils down to eating better, moving more, stressing less and loving more. That's it,” Ornish said.
Dr. Ornish is collaborating with leading neurologists across the country, including those at Harvard Medical School, to test the theory.
“Our unique contribution is to use these very high-tech, expensive, cutting-edge scientific tools to prove how powerful these very simple, low-tech, low-cost interventions can be. '' he said.
The results of the trial are not expected to be known until next year, but other parties are also closely monitoring the results.
Dr. Jessica Caldwell, director of the Women's Alzheimer's Disease Exercise Prevention Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, said she encourages her patients to be physically active to keep their minds sharp.
“Physical exercise has a direct effect on the brain, not just immediately, but for months afterwards,” says Caldwell. “The levels of neurochemistry that support memory change. Exercising makes you feel better and reduces stress levels.”
More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. Doctors say the disease begins decades before a person develops memory loss or other symptoms.
