Weapons to defeat Alzheimer’s? We already have them!

What do we really know about preventing or treating Alzheimer’s disease?

Well, one thing’s for sure — we know that Big Pharma’s attempts to come up with a drug have been a string of complete and utter failures.

The latest flop was just announced by Eli Lilly last week, when it gave the official thumbs down to its Alzheimer’s med solanezumab — a drug it has been trying every which way to make work for years now.

But despite the huge amount of money spent on R&D for that med and many others, there have already been some astonishing findings about how you can help save your brain from this devastating disease.

And guess what? Not one of them is coming from Big Pharma’s laboratories.

Why wait?

The fact that Lilly’s solanezumab is a flop will come as no surprise to eAlert readers.

Back three years ago, we told you how the drugmaker was attempting to take its failed med back out of the broom closet by hatching a new plan
— giving it to seniors who hadn’t even been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

These were people who were found through a PET scan to have the beginnings of amyloid brain plaques (a buildup of “sticky” proteins), what’s thought to be a main suspect in the development of the disease.

But the just-released report on that trial says that the drug made no difference whatsoever in either reducing or stopping those plaques from increasing. Nothing. Nada.

Another drug that just bit the dust was supposedly going to help Alzheimer’s patients by increasing production of serotonin and other important “brain chemicals.”

So, what does that leave us with when it comes to this terrifying memory-stealer?

The answer is plenty of non-drug options.

First off, recent cutting-edge research has found an important connection between inflammation and the amyloid plaques that drugmakers have been trying — without success — to tackle. Studies have found that a chronic inflammatory response can both trigger the development of such plaques and result in the “seeding and spreading” of them.

But there’s no need to wait for researchers to finally come up with a pill for that! We already know plenty of ways to lower inflammation through diet.

In fact, the top inflammation-busting foods are very easy to come by, and they’re quite tasty. Plus, they will help to protect a lot more than your brain.

These include tomatoes, nuts (particularly walnuts and almonds), fatty fish (such as wild-caught salmon and tuna), and cold-pressed flaxseed and olive oil. You can also get the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids — which make certain fish such anti-inflammatory powerhouses — by simply taking a high-quality fish-oil supplement.

And what about increasing brain levels of serotonin? That’s something drugmaker Lundbeck pursued for several years with its experimental med before recently calling it quits.

Even though the drug didn’t work, the serotonin concept could be right on target. It’s one that’s been in the loop for quite a while, only it wasn’t known until recently if low levels of this brain chemical in those with Alzheimer’s was a cause or an effect.

But just last summer, Johns Hopkins scientists made the ground-breaking discovery (in people, not lab rats!) that low serotonin may “drive” the disease, instead of being a “byproduct” of it.

In fact, the lead author of that study, Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry Dr. Gwenn Smith, noted that since we now have more proof of the link between serotonin levels and dementia, we could be able to increase serotonin in the brain, stop the advance of memory loss, and even slam the brakes on the progression of the disease!

But again, why wait for a $500 pill to do that (even if one were to be successfully developed)?

Research has found that we can naturally up our levels of serotonin by exposure to light, especially sunlight!

Another serotonin-booster is none other than exercise.

Then, there’s the amino acid tryptophan, which is what your body uses to make its own serotonin.

That comes from high-protein foods such as turkey and many of the same staples that provide all of those omega-3s — fatty fish, walnuts, seeds, beans, and seaweed (which you can find in most health food stores).

The bottom line is that Mother Nature has already given us the tools necessary to keep our brains in top form.

No drugs required!

“Another Alzheimer’s drug fails: What makes this disease so tough to fight?” Dennis Thompson, January 25, 2018, HealthDay, consumer.healthday.com