Treating Alzheimer’s Disease with the Bredesen Protocol

Perhaps you’ve been told that there’s nothing you can do about the cognitive decline you’re experiencing as you age. Maybe you’ve been led to believe that Alzheimer’s Disease cannot be prevented or even slowed. These messages reverberating through the healthcare industry are incomplete and misleading. 

If you’re experiencing cognitive decline, it’s not too late. If Alzheimer’s Disease has been in your family, you can take preventative action. 

As the world of medicine transforms and expands in the 21st century, we’re breaking ground on brain health and the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.

So, Is It Possible to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

Treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias lies in the prevention and reversal of cognitive decline. Alzheimer’s disease is preceded by early dementia stages—Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). While reversal can be achieved in the later stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, it is most effective to address cognitive decline in these early stages, at which point you can also prevent and slow further progression of the disease. 

Of course, it is far better still to take action prior to the onset of any cognitive decline, as this allows the possibility for full prevention, as well as brain optimization at every stage of aging.

How Can We Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline?

To effectively combat cognitive decline, we must identify and address all underlying causes simultaneously.

Dr. Dale Bredesen—internationally recognized pioneer in neurological research and founder of the The Bredesen Protocol—has discovered 36 factors that can contribute to cognitive decline. These include health components like nutritional status, metabolic functioning, sleep habits, social engagement, and stress management. 

When we address all of these factors simultaneously, reversing destructive trends, we can optimize the health of the brain and ultimately both prevent and reverse cognitive decline.

The Bredesen Protocol: A Functional Approach

The Bredesen Protocol is a functional approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases; it employs a comprehensive method which starts with an assessment of all factors contributing to the health of the brain and nervous system; and then, through the use of a proprietary, evidence-based algorithm, creates a unique and personalized prescription of supplements, medications, and lifestyle changes to optimize brain health and prevent and/or reverse cognitive decline.

How Is the Bredesen Protocol Different from Other Approaches?

The Bredesen protocol draws from mass data collection, genetic research, molecular biochemistry, and concepts of 21st century medicine to strategically target the underlying causes of cognitive decline that current mainstream approaches fail to address.  

Doctor Bredesen explains that, just as you can’t effectively repair a roof by patching one of 36 holes, neither can you effectively treat a disease by addressing one of 36 contributing factors. 

That’s why the current pharmaceutical approach is failing—it seeks to treat Alzheimer’s disease through the development of a single combative medication. But given the complex and comprehensive nature of the disease, this drug would have to be capable of a sizable number of different functions—far more than any one drug has yet to accomplish. 

The Bredesen Protocol doesn’t rely on the patchwork of one hole; it attempts to close as many holes as possible, targeting the various root causes of cognitive decline simultaneously.

How Does The Protocol Work?

To understand how we target the root causes of cognitive decline, we must first understand how cognitive decline occurs on a molecular level—how neurons degenerate in the brain. 

Our brain cells rely on the balance of four developmental processes; when these processes become imbalanced, the brain cells don’t communicate properly, leading to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Two of these developmental processes are responsible for the brain’s ability to make and break neurons, or, form synapses. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a mediator for the brain’s synapses. When imbalanced, neurons breakdown at a greater rate than they form, resulting in a disparity—a degeneration. 

When an APP is severed, we can see the particular peptides (units that make up the APP) that cause neuron breakdown and those that cause neuron formation and maintenance. With this distinction, we can identify the negative growth factors (infections, inflammation, etc.) that lead to neuron breakdown and the positive growth factors (hormones, nutrients, etc.) that lead to neuron formation. 

We can then take direct action to reduce negative growth factors and strengthen positive growth factors in a person’s life to restore balance in the brain.

Protocol in Practice: Treatment with The Healthy Brain Program

Here at The Healthy Brain Clinic, we employ an integrated approach to identify and address the causal factors present in your life. We begin by identifying your unique brain-health status through extensive blood and genetic testing and a complete behavioral, cognitive, and metabolic analysis.

Guided by this knowledge of your brain health and informed by the extensive research of Dr. Bredesen, as well as our years of direct experience in neuropsychology and functional medicine, we develop a comprehensive plan for you. Whether to prevent or reverse cognitive decline, we’ll prescribe a program of supplements, diet modifications, and lifestyle changes that meets you where you’re at.

Making the lifestyle changes involved in this treatment protocol is hard work, but the Healthy Brain Program is here to guide you. 

Our team of experts—including functional medicine doctors, neuropsychologists, and occupational therapists—work together not only to develop and adapt your plan, but also to assist you in the implementation of the challenging changes needed to modify your risk factors and maximize your health. 

To get started on your journey to thinking better and feeling better—no matter your current brain health status—give us a call.