In recent years, scientists have discovered that neurons, the cells that make up the central nervous system, do indeed regenerate and form new synaptic connections. This brain plasticity allows us to grow old with intact cognitive function. With the exception of the few genetic mutations that cause early onset Alzheimer’s disease before age 55, our genes play a minor role in preserving brain health. The rest is up to us.
Still, having a parent who died from Alzheimer’s disease and discovering that I have the APOE4 allele associated with late onset Alzheimer’s disease, I have a higher risk for late-onset cognitive decline than most people. So I do what I can as a preventive measure. The good news, reported by William Faloon in Life Extension in January 2019, is that the percentage of Americans that lose their functional independence is sharply declining. In the Framingham Heart Study, the incidence of dementia in older Americans declined by about 20 percent between 1977 and 2008. A British study showed a 24 percent decline in dementia in older adults between 1991 and 2011. This has much to do with preventive measures. Still, certain risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor nutrition continue to contribute to dementia.
Managing Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Reducing risk factors for heart disease benefits the brain. The focus for helping both conditions revolves around diet, exercise, and dietary supplements. Avoiding foods that cause inflammation such as sugar, artificial sweeteners, processed foods, red meats, and long lists of chemicals is important, and so is avoiding foods that trigger allergic or hypersensitivity reactions. Foods that reduce inflammation should be incorporated into a nutrient-rich diet and include non-starchy vegetables, whole fruits, wild caught and low mercury fish, omega-3 oils, grass-fed, pasture raised, or certified organic high quality protein and dairy, if tolerated. Digestive health and a healthy gut microbiome are also important. People with Alzheimer’s disease have a totally different microbiome than that of people free from dementia, a topic described in my next newsletter.
Mental and Physical Exercise
Assembling jigsaw puzzles, playing crossword puzzles, and playing word, and sudoko games are convenient and easy ways to exercise the brain. Reading and writing also offer benefits, and learning a new musical instrument or learning a new song or the steps to an aerobic dance also benefit the brain. Math skills have long been known to improve when students are studying music. Exercise induces the production of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a growth hormone that helps us regenerate new neurons. Besides exercise, acupuncture and meditation cause increases in BDNF.
Sitting on the sofa watching television for 6 hours or longer is a big risk factor for numerous diseases and considered more harmful than smoking. If sitting at a desk is essential for work, it’s important to get up every hour for a short walk and to stretch. The best exercise program is the one you like and that you enjoy doing. Exercise doesn’t have to be demanding but it should be sustained for at least 30 minutes daily.
Routine physicals can also help in finding disorders such as hypothyroidism, Vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies, and diabetes that can cause memory loss that is reversible with proper treatment.
Diet and Supplements
Even the brains of older healthy people have some amyloid protein, which is a naturally occurring antimicrobial substance. However, in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, amyloid protein is produced in higher amounts that cluster together forming plaques that prevent neurons from communicating with one another. Chronic infections, even childhood infections, can lead to these accumulations, which I describe in my book Alzheimer’s Disease and its Infectious Causes (McFarland, 2020). Studies of supplements labeled as brain boosters typically do very little as they either contain ingredients that are poorly absorbed, or the dose is too low to do much in terms of reducing amyloid deposits. They are also typically expensive. Save your money for foods and nutrient supplements proven to work.
A diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables with an emphasis on omega-3 oils much like the Mediterranean diet is recommended for brain and vascular health. Cruciferous vegetables in particular help by protecting against arterial wall thickness. My last article on Increasing Energy includes a description of supplements used to support mitochondrial health. Because mitochondrial dysfunction is a major cause of cognitive decline, these supplements also benefit the aging brain.
Other supplements that benefit the brain include colostrinin, a peptide found in milk, that causes the production of enzymes that break down the amyloid plaque deposits that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease. The herb curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric, also offers benefits. While the highest incidence of Alzheimer’s disease is seen in the United States and Europe, one of the lowest rates occurs in India, where a plant based diet rich in turmeric is common. Other beneficial supplements include wild blueberry extract, pregnenolone, magnesium L-threonate, vinpocetine, phosphatidylserine, and the herbs ashwaganda and sage. Sage is reported to improve attention, long-term memory, neurotransmitter signaling, cognitive performance and lifespan. Pregnenolone is a master neurohormone that helps improve focus and memory and supports a balanced mood.
Fisetin
Fisetin is one of the newest bioflavinoid antioxidants (plant derived phytochemicals) reported to help the aging brain and increase lifespan. Fisetin is also being investigated for its use as a chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic agent for lung, colon and prostate cancers. Fisetin is found in many fruits and vegetables, with the highest amounts found in strawberries, followed by apples, persimmons, lotus root, onions, grapes, kiwis, peaches and cucumbers. Fisetin has been shown to increase levels of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant. In animal studies, fisetin has been found to reduce amyloid plaque and reverse damaged synaptic connections.
Senescent Cells and Senolytics
However, for anti-aging purposes, the senolytic properties of fisetin are its main anti-aging contributors. As our neurons become senescent and die and become replaced, senescent neurons and other dying cells interfere with normal cellular functions. Simply said, they gum up the works. Senescent cells are also called Zombie Cells because they can persist all the while spewing out chemical compounds that produce inflammation and accelerate aging.
Senolytics are compounds, such as fisetin and quercetin, with the ability to destroy and remove senescent cells. A study published in Aging shows that fisetin is more powerful than quercetin and eliminates about 70 percent of senescent cells without affecting normal cells. In doing so, fisetin reduces inflammation and produces beneficial changes in metabolic pathways similar to those seen with calorie restriction. In animal models, fisetin shows a neuroprotective effect in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Fisetin alone is poorly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract although research suggests using 500 mg daily for 5 days, stopping 5 days and restarting. Combined with fenugreek in Bio-Fisetin (Life Extension), its potency is increased by a factor of 25. I recently added this product to my supplements and beat 77% of other people on online Soduko today.