Alzheimer’s Disease Research – a Simple, Easy Way to Avoid Alzheimer’s Disease

For a long time the mechanisms through which some people contracted Alzheimer’s disease AD) was a mystery. They knew that there was some kind of genetic link because it tended to run in families, but beyond that, no one knew.

Now, Alzheimer’s disease research has made it possible to paint a much clearer picture. We now know that there are both genetic and environmental factors involved. We also know that the precursors to the disease begin appearing decades before Alzheimer’s symptoms become evident, much like HIV appears years before AIDS develops.

We don’t yet have as clear a marker for the beginnings of AD as HIV is to AIDS, but Alzheimer’s disease research is working on it. Researchers are currently pursuing and validating several promising precursor markers. They also continue to identify and clarify various environmental factors that play a part.

There are both positive indicators that identify elements associated with those who do not get Alzheimer’s and negative indicators associated with those that do. For Alzheimer’s disease prevention then, it would seem that all we have to do is use and adopt the positive and avoid the negative factors.

An example of a negative indicator could be major tooth loss. People who have lost more than 1/3 of their teeth are at a significantly higher risk for Alzheimer’s and other dementias than those who have retained most of their teeth. So we brush and floss, visit a dentist regularly, take care of our teeth and keep them.

There are many positive factors, too many to go into here, but a good, strong example would be by maintaining the level of Vitamin B-12 in your bloodstream at 600 to 2,000 pg/ml. [In the U.S. the averages are generally much lower. Japan's "normal" range is 500-1,300 which may explain why Japan has such a low rate of AD.]

By way of background, mammals, including humans, are born with serum levels of vitamin B12 at about 2,000 pg/ml (picograms–i.e., trillionths of a gram, per milliliter). The level declines throughout human life for various reasons, some known, others guessed at, many unknown.

Dr. John V. Dommisse, who practices medicine in Tucson, Arizona, wrote an article in 1991 in Medical Hypotheses in which he maintained that most cases of Alzheimer’s dementia are actually missed B12 deficiency cases. He later reported that Alzheimer’s disease appeared to result from too-low serum vitamin B12.

Replenishing the vitamin succeeded in improving patients in spite of other risk factors. Repleting B12, according to Dommisse, can reverse 75% of B12 deficiency dementias when the condition is discovered early enough.

More recent research has put a finer point on it. For example, in Preventive Medicine Update (May 1995), Jeffrey Bland, PhD reported, “…a wide range of very important clinical outcomes from improving folate/B12/B6 status, cutting across neurological and arterial functional status.”

Which ties in to the correlation between high levels of homocysteine and AD. Reducing your level of homocysteine also makes you less likely to get AD. Folates and other B-vitamins will reduce your homocysteine levels rapidly and economically. B-12 is cheap, available in a number of forms.(See below for more on this.)

So, to summarize that area of Alzheimer’s disease research, the bottom line is, a simple but effective step for Alzhemer’s prevention is to get your levels of B-12 and homocysteine checked. Then take B-12, folates and other B-vitamins to raise your serum B-12 and lower your homocystein, to positive, anti-AD ranges.

For more about Alzheimer’s disease research and about Alzheimer’s prevention, follow the links below…

By: Jorge G. Chavez

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