News from our SFO Meet-up

[Harrison]

Thanks for all of the great information from the SFO meet-up. Would have loved to have been able to go, but alas...

I wanted to follow-up on the news story that was attached to the PDF of Dr. Bredesen's protocol. In the story, they mention testing a drug already available in other countries, but not the U.S, and declined to identify the drug. I think the drug is tropisetron.

In doing a little digging, I found this patent authored by Drs. Bredesen and Tzannis that mentions tropisetron as part of a protocol along with numerous supplements. "e.g., tropisetron designated F03":
https://www.google.com/patents/WO2014025905A9?cl=en

In addition, Dr. Bredesen has published research looking at tropisetron in mice, and the last line of the abstract says "therefore [Tropisetron] has been approved for testing in clinical trials beginning in 2014:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24389031

[Starfish77]

Harrison,
Good sleuthing. I was fascinated reading the details of the protocol. I was impressed with how many medical conditions in addition to AZ were listed as possible applications for the individualized treatment.

Starfish

[circular]

If anyone (Julie?) would feel comfortable mentioning something to Dr. Bredesen about his book, it would be very helpful if he might include some statements about whether some of these things like curcumin and ginger can be of benefit from food, and if so, how much of fresh and dried per day would stand in for supplemental amounts. It might even be possible to do half supplement/half dietary in some cases. With my supercollider Blenctec blender I'm in favor of throwing anything in fresh form into my smoothies, and then using those to take what has to be in pill form. As it is I make a ginger-turmeric concentrate from fresh roots and add it to water to take my other pills, but I don't know if I'm using adequate quantities. I also use curry regularly. Then sometimes throw in a curcumin capsule. I also add both to regular smoothies a number of times a week. Maybe there could be a chapter for those who want to go hard core dietary implementation first, and then supplement after labs following that, except for what can only be supplemented.

That patent app is great, and I like that he mentions some specific brands he uses. It would be interesting to look them up at ConsumerLab but I've got a migraine and PT coming up ...

[asiagillett]

Circular, exactly what I was wanting to know as well. I throw fresh ginger in my morning smoothie everyday and have always wondered what the difference would be in fresh vs supplementation and if I'm taking in enough. The tumeric root IMO is awful to work with in raw form. I end up with stained fingers, dish towels, teeth once

I've decreased a ton of supplements in favor of tracking dietary intake and I would like to avoid taking 2 handfuls of pills a day. Still digesting all the info from your meet up. WOW!

A

[Tincup]

I've decreased a ton of supplements in favor of tracking dietary intake and I would like to avoid taking 2 handfuls of pills a day. Still digesting all the info from your meet up. WOW!
A

For those of you who've read (or looked at the TedX video) Terry Wahls' book http://terrywahls.com/ http://terrywahls.com/category/video/ you'll remember she went through a progression of 1) low carb diet - really no effect, 2) supplements - she didn't realize there was an effect until she quit and declined rapidly and 3) tracking 30 some nutrients and trying to get most through food intake - then she had a dramatic remission in her MS. So this obviously is a wonderful approach.

[Stavia]

Circular, exactly what I was wanting to know as well. I throw fresh ginger in my morning smoothie everyday and have always wondered what the difference would be in fresh vs supplementation and if I'm taking in enough. The tumeric root IMO is awful to work with in raw form. I end up with stained fingers, dish towels, teeth once

I've decreased a ton of supplements in favor of tracking dietary intake and I would like to avoid taking 2 handfuls of pills a day. Still digesting all the info from your meet up. WOW!

A

Asia honey, I started off a year ago wanting to do everything by food alone. Extremely reluctantly I have come around to realising it may not be enough as a 4/4. And I am too scared to risk that food may be enough. Sigh.

[asiagillett]

So back to popping pills for us.....or both, good food and pills. Yes sigh. Thank you for the reference above George. I will look at it. So much info so little time.

Asia

[Tincup]

Asia,

Terry Wahls does both. She gets all she can from food and supplements where needed. Her thought is we get so much more when we eat a nutrient dense diet. Her first book is titled "Minding the Mitochondria." Based on researcher Bruce Ames' triage theory. The RDA's, in many cases, just cover immediate needs. However not enough to cover "long term maintenance." The body prioritizes what it needs to keep going in the present. A lot of "deferred maintenance" can happen, though. So the idea is to cover both. At the very least, watch her Ted talk. It is very inspiring as she goes from a zero-gravity tilt-recline wheel chair to riding her bicycle in 9 months, reversing most of the effects of her MS.

[Julie G]

Circ, I'm thinking the best way to "access" Dr. Bredesen is to post to Dr. Rao- "Ram." They work in the same lab and Ram has graciously offered to interact with us...

Dr. Wahl's Ted Talk is one of my favorites. I consider her an inspiration. FWIW, I do both a nutrient dense diet & strategic supplements. Homozygotes, especially, are facing an uphill battle. I feel I need both.

[circular]

I like my progression idea. Do labs. Then do everything possible to optimize the needed nutrients in diet (those that can be realistically obtained through diet). Then do labs. Then layer in supplements. Then do labs ...

Let's not forget all the UNknowns, like: 1) synergistic effects of whole foods, 2) compensatory genes offsetting E4 risk that each of us may have, 3) multiple downstream effects good/bad of supplements that have not been studied ...

Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of Bredesen's approach, and for someone already experiencing cognitive difficulties getting as much support from any direction as possible is probably important. But maybe for those not having symptoms a more step-wise approach is a good idea, especially since the protocol still hasn't been tested longitudinally.

I'm really kind of splitting hairs though. The only supplements I'd be somewhat concerned about are the herbs, since that article came out within the last year or two showing that those using supplements had more liver issues than those using pharms, and I think Stavia said it's mainly the herbs that are the problem due to all the unknown constituents. However, having Dr. Rao on board suggests the herbs recommended are safe.

Interesting though I haven't seen anything in the protocol about regular checking of liver and kidney function??? Maybe that's a given?

I appreciate that if I were 4/4 rather than 4/3 I might think differently; but then I keep forgetting about what's in my own signature below