Reversal of Dementia….

Yes, you heard that right- REVERSAL of dementia. I’ve been listening to some amazing talks over the last few days at the Integrative Medicine Menatl Health Conference here in Dallas.  Yesterday morning, Dr. Dale Bredesen, author of  The End of Alzheimer’s, spoke in two plenary sessions about his pioneering work in reversing cognitive decline with the ReCODE protocol.

His case presentations totally undermine the traditional medical model that once you have dementia there is no reversing it. It’s not easy though- not something a single molecule medicine is going to make a significant impact on. It takes a lot of commitment and work on the part of the patient.

Dr. Bredesen recommends extensive testing to determine each individual’s major routes to cognitive decline; likely there are somewhere between 25 and 50 contributing factors. He divides them up to major groups – inflammatory, trophic with not enough nutrients or hormones , and toxic, such as from mycotoxins or borrelia, and then works to provide each patient with their own individual program to reverse dementia.

Three of the biggest tools in the ReCODE protocol are my favorite integrative and functional tools- diet, exercise, and sleep, for whenever you are employing them you are hitting many different steps in your physiology and not just one. All of you connected to the Devon world would have been very happy to hear the words “grass-fed beef” announced on stage by Dr Bredesen.

Other dietary choices recommended repeatedly throughout the conference were non-GMO, nutrient dense, gluten free, and limited or no dairy and sugar.

Carolyn M. Matthews, MD; Director of Integrative and Functional Medicine, Baylor University Medical Center