I will have to remember to call it that. Type 3 Diabeties sounds a lot more accurate given my latests googling expeditions.

Dr. Mary Newport On Coconut Oil As An Alzheimer’s Cure (Episode 240)
Worth listening to.

If you haven't already listened to Dr Larry McCleary's interview on a similar theme

WHAT IF THERE WAS A CURE FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND NO ONE KNEW? A Case Study by Dr. Mary Newport This is an article Dr Newport wrote about her husbands experience last July 08 but it's interesting to hear her views in the Jimmy Moore interview, now March 09.

I have just scrolled through this entire thread to see if Dr Mary Newport was mentioned. I read the article quoted above today. Very very interesting. She doesn't seem to be eating a low-carb diet with her husband - she mentions oatmeal - but the improvements her DH made after just 37 days of adding a few tsps of VCO a day to his diet are amazing.

My mum (may she rest in peace) died at age 64 and probably had Alzheimer's. My sister and I were asked if we wanted her brain autopsied to see if she really did have AD and we said no, because neither of us thought that we could handle living with the idea - if she really did have it - that we could be in line for it, too. She had gone very weird long before that, so we hardly had any contact with her, which is why I can't say much more about her condition. But a few things I do know: she ate very badly, and had spent a lot of time indoors for the previous 15 years because she was a raving hypochondriac. So she didn't get much natural Vitamin D, for sure.

I am now hoping that having become a low-carb convert, who regularly eats coconut oil and other fats, who takes Vit D religiously now, might prevent me from going down the same path. Or at least, it might slow the whole process down???

I think the increased incidence of AD could well be a combination of too few fats and too many carbs, not just the overdose of carbs in the diet.

Anyway, reading that Dr Mary Newport article has certainly made me glug down the VCO with a vengeance today!!! I hope I'll remember to keep on doing so...

amanda

I think we'll find it's the omega 3<>omega 6 ratio in combination with low D3 and excess carbohydrate intake.
D3 like omega 3 is a powerful antioxidant. But do read
Stephan Whole Health Source Dementia

Alzheimer’s Disease Is Type 3 Diabetes—Evidence Reviewed

and

Diabetes of the Brain Is Alzheimer's disease actually a form of diabetes? By Amanda Schaffer

Thanks for the links, Hutchinson!

I keep wondering about taking omega 3s, but seeing as they have a blood-thinning property, which is also the case with the Wobenzym I take, I think I would then be maybe overdoing it with the blood thinners??? I love oily fish and eat it regularly and eat hardly anything with omega 6s in it, so I hope my omega 6-3 ratio is more or less Ok without using supplements.

My Wobenzym has now completely cleared up the arthritis that had appeared in my right hand, so I am going to carry on with that. It is very good stuff indeed!

amanda

Just found this thread, and very interesting reading. My mom had Alzheimer's. Her symptoms began when she was only in her mid-50s, younger than I am now! Really scary stuff. She passed away in 2004 at age 77, and more than 20 years of the disease. The last dozen years she was pretty much a vegetable - bed-ridden, unable to talk, unable to recognize anyone, unable to do anything at all for herself.

My two sisters and I have been afraid for years about potential genetic components to the disease. However, *no one* in the rest of the history of the family has ever had it. And my mom's sister is now 88 years old and still active and as mentally sharp as someone half her age.

But my mom's mantra throughout life could easily have been that she never met a carb she didn't like. She was always an "eat dessert first" type. Ice cream, cake, cookies, pie, chocolate ... all her fave stuff!

Sadly, mine too for many years. But I'm certainly hoping I can reverse things and turn them around with this new lifestyle. Losing my *mind* it utterly scary to contemplate.

Low blood sugar a dementia risk for diabetics The more reliant you are on insulin the more likely is this scenario. Using a low carb, high fat approach reduces both the highs and the lows.

Polyunsaturated Fat Intake: Effects on the Heart and Brain,
Interesting series of papers that support the general idea of using more saturated fats rather than polyunsaturated Omega 6's.

Heavy NSAID Use Linked to Higher Dementia RiskAmong patients 65 and older, heavy NSAID users were 66% more likely to develop dementia and 57% more likely to develop Alzheimer's,

One of the themes of this thread has been the fight against inflammatory processes. This article links to use of NSAID's to demetia outcomes but it is likely that those who use the most NSAID's do so because they have higher levels of inflammation. By reducing sources of inflammation and lowering the inflammatory response maybe we could reduce the need for NSAID's.

Vitamin D3 for Pain

Hyperinsulinemia Provokes Synchronous Increases in Central Inflammation and
-Amyloid in Normal Adults More evidence that inflammation may be an issue for Alzheimer's.

There have been a number of studies done which show that the enzyme preparation, Wobenzym, can usefully be used to replace NSAIDs, and will have the same painkilling effect as NSAIDs, but do the job better because the enzymes actually dampen down the whole inflammatory process. I got sent a paper about NSAIDs scoring just as well as painkillers, but it was in German, so I imagine it's not much use here.

I can personally testify to the fact that Wobenzym is a good painkiller and combats mild arthritis pain. In fact, I've run out of the stuff and the arthritis in my right hand is slowly but surely coming back. I am planning on getting it prescribed again and I really must make a doctor's appointment to get it prescribed for arthritis.

I imagine that people over 65 have more general aches and pains, and, in some cases, due to lack of distraction, feel these pains more than younger people still in work, or looking after children etc. This would be why they take more NSAIDs, in general, I would imagine, not just more inflammation.

Have you looked into these proteolytic enzymes, Hutchinson, during your internet travels??? They have loads of amazing properties and are a seriously underestimated supplement. Wobenzym is the product I use because it's been around a long time and is easily available here.

amanda

Not sufficient research to support it's use as far as I'm concerned But I accept there is some evidence for it's anti inflammatory actions.

The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science
Some very moving and interesting video's here.

Amidst the heartbreak of Alzheimer's, there is real reason for hope. This two-hour, two-part documentary takes viewers inside the laboratories and clinics of 25 leading scientists and physicians, who seek to discover what can be done to better detect and diagnose Alzheimer's, delay the onset of memory loss, affect the brain changes associated with the disease, and ultimately prevent Alzheimer's disease altogether. Two years in the making, the documentary travels coast to coast to explore this complex disease, which scientists believe may have no single cause, but may develop from a number of factors that interact over many years. Scientists are zeroing in on both genetic and environmental factors that might cause Alzheimer's or protect against it. The series delves into the intriguing links to heart disease and diabetes, as well as the potential benefits of exercise or diet. Groundbreaking advances in brain imaging are allowing scientists to peer into the living brain to see the disease at its earliest stages, and revolutionary approaches to treating and preventing Alzheimer's, such as vaccines, are reaching final stages of drug testing.

Seems sad to me that some of the researchers do not appear to be aware of the role of Vitamin D in the brain in dealing with inflammation and neurotoxicity, also the section in which Suzanne Craft compares a high fat high sugar diet with a low fat low sugar diet made me very cross. Having explained how insulin affects the brain.
Why don't these people understand the role of glucose on insulin or the role of ketones as alternative brain fuel.

Good section in Part 2 on the role of exercise for brain function.

Just discovered there is this Supplementary Section With Dr S Craft that may go into the subject in more detail.

I'm glad you do!!! The anti-inflammatory properties of proteolytic enzymes make them excellent painkillers, which has been tested in double-blind studies, with them often coming off a lot better than your regular NSAIDs, because they have far fewer side-effects. The only side effects tend to be a bit of GI discomfort in some cases, but I suspect that this is generally because people have taken their enzymes too close to a meal. I take mine in the middle of the night, and since I started doing that, they don't interfere with my digestion.

If you looked up "systemic enzyme support/therapy", or "proteolytic enzymes" or even the product serrapeptase (also a proteolytic enzyme) on iherb and the product reviews, you'd find a bit more. A German naturopath called Hans Nieper was a big fan of serrapeptase and claimed that it "unblocked arteries", including carotid arteries. However, although it could well be true, even the stuff I found which sang this guy's praises (and praised serrapeptase), admitted that there was only "anecdotal evidence" for this.

One theory to explain how this could work is that the proteolytic enzymes (which you never take with a meal, cos then they'd digest the protein in your meal, instead of going elsewhere and destroying unwanted matter) "digest" the "rubbish" that has been deposited in your arteries, a lot of which is protein of some kind, I guess. This makes sense, but it is only a theory. But then most of science is.

Wobenzym, or similar products, have been successfully used by athletes and sportspeople for years to help injuries heal faster, and it is also used for people undergoing surgery. In this case, it promotes faster wound healing, reduces scar tissue, bruises and swelling, oedemas disappear twice as fast, etc.

As injuries - whether caused accidentally in sport, or on purpose as during surgery - can also cause massive inflammation, which these enzymes have been proven to reduce, I think you can safely say that this is not just another snake oil product.

However, I have to grant that there's not that much in English. There's quite a few research papers in German and in various Slavic languages, but not so much in English.

I happened to come across the enzyme serrapeptase in a catalogue I got from a European supplement supplier, which piqued my curiosity. It works in much the same way as "Wobenzym" (no 'e' on the end by the way), and has been used in Japan for decades. Research papers in Japanese are not going to be that much good to thee or me either, though...

I shall keep on looking for good research papers on this matter, though. I'm a convert, but it's not easy to find good evidence backing up its powers. I think that it's one of those things that works, but people don't really know how or why it works!!! Which is of no consequence to me on one level (I use the internet cos it works, but I am not interested in how it works!!!), but, because those people who do use Wobenzym or similar products also tend to sing their praises, I think it is a shame not to try and tell people about them. Especially people who may really benefit from them, such as people crippled with arthritis, etc.

I might have one thing that you might like to look at though, I'll see if I can find it and add a link to this post.

Here it is: it's written by a guy with cerebral palsy who discovered serrapeptase. It's quite fascinating and, OK, it's just one guy's story, but after I read his tale, I looked for serrapeptase on iherb and found 155 product reviews, nearly all of them claiming to have helped with pain and inflammation. There are also 170 reviews of nattokinase, which is the main ingredient in that miso soup that the Japanese go for, which apparently also contains a lot of Vit K, which is also a blood thinner (wasn't Stephan talking about the importance of Vit K lately?) I think the consumption of miso, with its enzymes and vit K, may be one of the things that keeps the Japanese relatively healthy (when they stick to their traditional diet, that is).

I realize that some of these product reviews may be bogus, but still, I think that can't apply to all of them. Here's the link to the website/blog:

http://serrapeptaseadventure.ws

And here's an article that cites various bits of research:

http://www.doctormurray.com/index.p...w=article&id137

I am sure you could easily find the product reviews of nattokinase and serrapeptase on iherb without my help

Happy Reading!

amanda