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Stress, aging and the brain |
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by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. and Malcolm Riley, D.D.S.
Stress, aging and the brain
Julie was distraught. She was a
mother of two teenage girls and
was happily married to Bill
who was a physician. She
worked full-time as a health care
administrator, a job she enjoyed
immensely. Her life seemed to be perfect
yet the anguish in her face was easy to see.
She was only 49, yet she had begun to
notice those small lapses in memory that have
been called euphemistically “senior moments.”
She had forgotten she had promised to take
her daughters to a party recently, she had
missed a parents meeting at school, and was
finding it hard to remember the names of the
new physicians at her hospital.
What really scared her though was that she
had completely missed an important administrators
meeting. She had never missed one
before in the 20 years she had worked at the
hospital. In fact she had always prided herself
on having a perfect memory.
Julie was worried that she was developing
Alzheimer’s disease. Her father had been diagnosed
with early stage Alzheimer’s a couple of
years previously and she knew that if you have
a family member with Alzheimer’s disease, you
have a three- to fourfold greater chance of
developing it.
As we talked with Julie, it became clear that
her life had changed considerably over the past
few years. Her teenage daughters demanded a
lot more of her time, her husband was working
longer hours and her hospital had made major
changes to its administrative system, which
meant a lot more work for her. This added up
to much more stress.
Although conventional medicine had
little to offer Julie to overcome her lapses of
memory or to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease,
we explained to her that the Integrative
Brain Longevity Program that combined alternative
and conventional medicine has a proven
track record and that she would have her
memory back in fewer than 40 days.
Here are the four pillars
of the Brain Longevity Program:
1. Nutrition and diet:
Diet: 15–20 percent good fats,
nutrient dense and high in antioxidants
Supplements: a multivitamin mineral
with at least 50 mgs of the B-complex vitamins, vitamin E,
phosphatidylserine, Coenzyme Q-10, DHA
Herbs: Gingko biloba
2. Stress Management:
Reducing life stresses
Meditation and breathing exercises
3. Exercise:
Physical: brisk walking, tennis,
swimming, yoga
Mental: mental training–crossword
puzzles, learning,
4. Drugs and Natural Hormones:
Replacement of youthful levels of
thyroid, DHEA, pregnenolone, and
estrogen, progesterone and
testosterone as needed
Cognitive enhancement drugs,
Deprenyl |
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First we needed to explain to her why she
was beginning to lose her memory. Many of us
forget things if we either don’t pay attention or
if we don’t think they are important enough
for us to remember. This is a normal part of
life or we would fill our heads with trivia.
Julie though, was forgetting things that
were important to her. All the extra demands
that had been put on her over the past few
years had increased her stress levels enormously.
We explained to her that chronic stress causes
a long-lasting increase in the production of
cortisol from the adrenal glands. This rise in
cortisol is a normal response to stress to help us
cope but when the stress is over, cortisol levels
should return to normal. With chronic stress,
however, this does not happen and cortisol levels
stay high, with disastrous consequences for
the brain.
Cortisol affects the hippocampus, which is
the part of our brain that helps sort and store
memories. It prevents it from taking up
glucose; it also slows nerve impulse transmission
and eventually can lead to death of brain
cells. The size of the hippocampus in
Alzheimer’s patients is considerably reduced as
the disease progresses. Cortisol also inhibits a
process called “long-term potentiation” that is
critical to laying down memories. Altogether
high levels of cortisol are lethal to brain cells
and seriously impair one’s memory.
We took a blood sample from Julie to
measure her cortisol and DHEA levels. DHEA is
the most predominant of the steroid hormones
and declines with age. In fact, DHEA
levels are a good measure of the aging process.
As we suspected, Julie’s cortisol level was
high and her DHEA was low. This is a common
finding with older people who are under stress,
as they use up their DHEA to produce the excess
cortisol.
Julie was now fired up to start the Brain
Longevity Program. She could see that her
blood tests showed a real reason for her memory
loss. She wanted to know what she could do to make sure she recovered her memory
and to avoid becoming a victim of Alzheimer’s
disease.
Although we had identified stress as the
key part in Julie’s memory loss, we explained
to her that the reason the program is so
successful is that it addresses many of the other reasons why people suffer from it. Nutrition,
exercise and sometimes conventional drugs are
all part of the program.
The brain, even though it is the most
complicated and mysterious organ in our body,
is in fact just flesh and blood. It needs the right
food and nutrients, exercise and protection from
harm that come from our program.
Diet and Nutrition:
The first pillar is a diet with around 15–20 percent
fat. The quality of the fat is most important.
Our modern diet is high in saturated,
hydrogenated and trans fats, all of which are
harmful to our brains. Trans fats may be the
most harmful. They are found in margarines,
cookies and many types of processed foods.
They disrupt the production of energy in the
mitochondria (the energy factories) of brain
cells.
A diet rich in vegetables and fruits is also
important. Because the brain is composed mainly
of fat, it is very susceptible to oxidation.
Vegetables and fruits have high levels of antioxidants
that help neutralize the free radicals produced
by oxidation.
The brain uses glucose as a fuel. In fact, the
brain uses 25 percent of the total amount of
energy the body produces. Refined carbohydrates
and sugars can cause one’s blood
glucose levels to swing widely. Memory suffers
when blood glucose is low. For maximum
efficiency the brain needs a steady supply of
glucose and this is best achieved with a diet rich
in complex carbohydrates and at least 30 grams
of fiber a day.
We also recommend a good multiple vitamin
supplement. The brain, like all the cells,
needs a good supply of nutrients. The B
vitamins, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3),
pantothenic acid (B5) and pyridoxine (B6) are
particularly important. One’s multivitamin
should contain at least 50 mgs of each of
them. Also there should be 400 micrograms of
folic acid.
Next there are some brain specific nutrients.
CoQ-10, is a powerful antioxidant and also
important for the production of energy in the
mitochondria of the brain cells. One should take
at least 100 mgs a day.
Vitamin E in doses of up to 2,000 I.U. helps
protect brain cell membranes from oxidative
damage; 400–800 I.U is sufficient for prevention
and the treatment of early memory loss but people
suffering from Alzheimer’s will need the
higher dose.
The next nutrient is phosphatidylserine (PS). It
is abundant in the membranes of the brain cells
and is important for helping nutrients enter the
cells and wastes to leave. It also helps brain cells
to conduct nerve impulses and to release adequate
amounts of neurotransmitters. Many
studies show that PS has dramatically improved
memory just by itself. The dose is 100–300 mgs
a day. It hard to get sufficient PS from one’s diet
so we recommend PS as one of the key supplements
to improve memory.
The final brain specific nutrient is docosohexenoic
acid (DHA), one of the essential
omega-3 fatty acids. The best food sources are
cold water fish; this is one of the reasons that fish
is often called a brain food. DHA can also be
made from algae as a source for vegetarians. The
dose range is 100–1000 mgs.
Gingko is an herb that has been shown to
improve short-term memory in only a matter of
a few hours. We recommend a starting dose of
120–240 mgs, divided throughout the day. It
works by increasing blood flow to the brain and
also by acting as an antioxidant. Both vitamin E
and gingko have blood-thinning effects, so if
anyone is taking any blood-thinning drugs, they
should consult their physician before taking
these nutrients.
Stress Management
The second pillar of the brain longevity
program is stress management. Julie’s main
problem was chronic stress that had raised her
cortisol levels, so this was an important part of
the program for her. There are many ways to
lower one’s stress levels, the first of which is
avoiding stressful situations, if there is a choice.
We recommended that Julie start with a meditation
and she chose one from Dr. Khalsa’s book
Meditation As Medicine.
Meditation is one the most powerful ways to
lower cortisol levels and raise DHEA. Meditators
also have lower levels of lipid peroxidases, which
are a marker for free radical damage. In a study
of the elderly it was found that meditators had a
greater life expectancy than did non-meditators,
so there are a lot of benefits to a meditation
practice.
Yoga, breathing exercises and chanting also
can lower one’s stress levels. Whichever you
chose, the most important point is to make it a
regular practice. These techniques do not work
like aspirin; their effect builds over a period of
time. Recent studies show that more advanced
meditations, what Dr. Khalsa calls medical meditations,
directly stimulate the hippocampus and
improve memory.
Exercise
The third pillar is exercise, both physical and
mental. Physical exercise, like brisk walking,
swimming and tennis will lower one’s cortisol
levels. It will also increase the blood supply to
the brain, bringing oxygen and nutrients to
nourish brain cells.
Mental exercise is essential to keep one’s
brain functioning well. Reading, problem solving,
crossword puzzles all stimulate the brain. In
fact new research shows that the more one uses
his/her brain, the more new connections are
made between the brain cells. These connections are essential for one’s memory.
Drugs and natural hormones
Finally, the fourth pillar is a combination of
memory boosting drugs and hormone replacement.
Julie’s hormone DHEA was low so we gave
her a low dose supplement. We then measured
her DHEA levels again after three months. We
were aiming for the level that she would have
had when she was 30. Too much DHEA can raise
testosterone in women with unpleasant side
effects. Sometimes we use another steroid
hormone, pregnenolone, either alone or in combination
with DHEA.
For intermediate memory loss we sometimes
use the drug Deprenyl. It prevents the breakdown
of dopamine and also raises the level of
other neurotransmitters. Deprenyl not only
improves memory but also helps with concentration.
Julie was a model patient and followed the
program religiously. She did regain most of her
perfect memory in the 40 days as promised. She
also feels more alive and vital than she has for
years. After six months her DHEA dose was
lowered to a maintenance dose of 25 mgs a day
and she continues with the diet and her supplement
program.
Julie is not an isolated case. The Brain
Longevity Program has helped thousands of
people to better memories and our experience
has been that dealing with stress has been a
major part of their success.
If you or your loved ones are experiencing
significant changes in memory, you should consult
your physician before beginning
the Brain Longevity Program. In addition,
Dr Khalsa’s book, Brain Longevity, available
from finer bookstores everywhere or online at
Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com, is a good
source of information and resources.
Remember, prevention is better than cure so
there is no time better than now to begin your
Brain Longevity Program.
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. is the medical director
and Malcolm Riley, D.D.S. is the executive director
of The Alzheimer’s Prevention Foundation
located at:
2420 N. Pantano Road
Tucson, Arizona.
Phone: 520-749-8374
www.alzheimersprevention.org
e-mail:
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