Last week we gave a dieticians perspective on the implementation of Dr Bredesen’s research on the management of Alzheimer’s disease. Today we will discuss the approach towards this devastating disease and other forms of dementia by Dr Daniel Amen, an American psychiatrist who has established a total of 8 clinics in various parts of the USA. He is a researcher and clinician who has the largest collection of brain scans to study – over 140,000 performed over 29 years. He has used SPECT scans to visualise the brain of patients, and show changes both degenerative, as well as improvements with management.
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The following is a summary of a number of presentations by Dr Daniel Amen, a popular but somewhat controversial psychiatrist in the USA.
Dr Amen has developed the mnemonic – BRIGHTMINDS to identify risk factors and behaviours that affect our brain health. A pithy saying of his is: “Every day determine to love your brain – do things that are going to be kind to it”.
Blood flow to the brain has a profound effect on its function. A number of factors affect the blood flow negatively: caffeine, high blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle, chronic heart conditions, nicotine use (even from vaping). Exercise is the most powerful stimulator of blood flow to the brain, especially exercise involving co-ordination e.g. playing table tennis, squash, tennis. You need to work out at least 2 – 3 times per week. Burst training is excellent – this involves high intensity activity for short bursts, then more leisurely activity thereafter in cycles. Strength training to build up muscle strength is also important as one gets older.
Retirement and ageing – when you stop learning, the brain deteriorates. Keep passionately engaged in life. Stretch the brain – play games that challenge your memory or your thinking processes.
Inflammation can be caused by many things. One factor is low levels of omega 3 in the diet, and high levels of omega 6. Most of the Western diet is rich in omega 6 fats and low in omega 3. Increase omega 3 through eating foods like chia seeds, linseeds or flax seeds, and cut back on corn oil, sunflower oil and highly processed foods.
Another factor in increasing inflammation is high levels of ferritin, as obtained by eating lots of red meat. One way to reduce ferritin levels is to donate blood!
Genetics: Increased risk from genetic predisposition or family history means greater awareness of other contributing risk factors, and a wake-up call. Nutrients that can reduce risks include curcumin (turmeric or cumin), sage, blue-berries and green tea.
Head injuries – contact sports like rugby, American football, especially in young children. Even heading a soccer ball causes head injuries in young people – the brain is soft and the skull hard. Motor accidents are another cause of head injury. Dr Amen in his SPECT studies has shown an association between head injuries and later depression.
Toxins – alcohol – any amount can result in a smaller brain. Marijuana (dagga) is also a well known cause of brain damage (in spite of the current hype!) It affects every part of the brain, but especially the hippocampus which is involved with memory. Other toxins include moulds, and even carbon monoxide to which fire-fighters and pilots are particularly exposed. Lipstick – 60% of lipsticks have lead. Other cosmetics can also cause endocrine disruption. (Evidently there is a free app available that can tell you if your cosmetics have any toxins called “Think Dirty” by pointing your camera to the Bar Code of products. I don’t know if this is applicable in S Africa). Eating brassicas like cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts – are protective. Eating ice-cream is harmful for your brain.
Mental Health Issues – depression increases the risk of Alzheimer’s, as does PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), bipolar condition, grief, schizophrenia, ADHD all increase the risk.
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Avoid ANTS – automatic negative thoughts – that result in stress. Meditate and pray, use purposeful thinking. Be grateful about life – make a list of things for which you are grateful. Pray for other people. Interestingly saffron has been found as good as medications for depression; exercise has been found to be as good as medications; omega 3 fats have been as good as medications.
Immunity – autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, asthma are associated with higher risk. Infections like Lyme disease, toxoplasmosis, herpes genitalis or labialis (cold sores) increase risk. Vitamin D levels are critical to boost immunity. Incidentally
Dr Amen says leptin (a hormone that tells you that you have eaten enough) does not work very well when the Vitamin D levels are low – thus Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to obesity.
Neurohormonal deficiency – low levels of oestrogen, progesterone thyroid, DHEA, thyroxin all affect risks of Alzheimer’s. Dr Amen suggest that it is necessary to reach optimal levels, not just levels within the normal range.
Diabesity (diabetes and obesity) due to eating highly processed foods (and high fat in the diet) results in a smaller brain on scan assessment.
Sleep – seven hours is needed to clean up the brain. Just like a computer needs to reboot, so the brain during sleep “re-boots”. People who suffer from sleep apnoea have triple the risk of Alzheimer’s.
This is a very brief summary. Many of the points have been covered in greater detail over the last three “Turning the tide” blogs.
You may want to look up some of his YouTube presentations to get more detail or go to his website. He is a good salesman and has a large following, but I believe he also has much of value to learn and implement.
Daniel Amen’s approach to psychiatric disease is controversial. He has had a significant level of criticism by colleagues, but he certainly has a large following and is very popular. Just to get some perspective I invite you to read the following Washington Post article.
Here is a South African perspective of nuclear medicine investigations of psychiatric illness: https://academic.sun.ac.za/Health/Media_Review/2013/16sep13/files/More.pdf
What this approach does remind us is that so many major health issues we face can be corrected by relatively simple interventions. Sometimes we get bamboozled by pharmaceuticals and high-powered surgical/technical interventions and forget the basics. Today’s presentation reminds us that living simply and avoiding so many of the lifestyle pitfalls of modern living can go a long way to health of mind and body.
To a healthy mind and rational approach to living.
Dave Glass
Dr David Glass graduated from UCT in 1975. He spent the next 12 years working at a mission hospital in Lesotho, where much of his work involved health education and interventions to improve health, aside from the normal busy clinical work of an under-resourced mission hospital.
He returned to UCT in 1990 to specialise in obstetrics/gynaecology and then moved to the South Coast where he had the privilege of, amongst other things, ushering 7000 babies into the world. He no longer delivers babies but is still very clinically active in gynaecology.
An old passion, preventive health care, has now replaced the obstetrics side of his work. He is eager to share insights he has gathered over the years on how to prevent and reverse so many of the modern scourges of lifestyle – obesity, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, common cancers, etc.
He is a family man, with a supportive wife, and two grown children, and four beautiful grandchildren. His hobbies include walking, cycling, vegetable gardening, bird-watching, travelling and writing. He is active in community health outreach and deeply involved in church activities. He enjoys teaching and sharing information.
