New member with Vascular Dementia

[R-Daughter]

Is there anyone else on this forum who has vascular dementia, not just recently diagnosed, and has made progress with this protocol? We three have done 23AndMe, and my father has one copy of e4. It looks like men like that have a 20-23% chance of getting Alzheimers after age 85. Maybe he has more than just VD.
My father and I moved in together a few years ago in San Antonio, TX. He had been diagnosed with MCI and vascular dementia and needed a little help here and there. Another problem is that his hearing is poor even with newer hearing aids. Now he is 95 and worse. He can still do his ADLs.
I got the Bredesen book last year, and my father had been doing some of the recommended interventions already, like sleeping with a CPAP.
Now I wonder if my father is too far gone to benefit from the Protocol, or MEND, or ReCODE, or whatever the heck this program is called.
I'm waiting to hear from AHNP about practitioners in or near San Antonio, but I've already found a couple. Haven't called them yet.
My brother lives in the same apartment complex and helps out. My father has "walking companions" a few times a week, who report that he has been shuffling now and then, not picking up his feet properly. That resulted in a minor fall and his health insurance is now paying for PT once a week. I put him through in-bed exercises in the mornings. I know that dementia can affect motor functions like walking, so I'm not sure the PT will help.
I'm in Facebook groups for caregivers and MCI, and I'm a volunteer for the Alzheimer's Association. I graduated from nursing school at age 60 and got my practical/vocational license. I am finally working, and now I feel like my own brain and body are getting rusty! Do any other caregivers worry about having dementia?

[Chameleon]

Hi R-Daughter,

Welcome to the APOE4 community! Glad you have joined us. I can't speak on the vascular dementia - perhaps someone else with more personal experience will chime in.

Congratulations on becoming a nurse! You seem to be taking very good care of your father. The CPAP is definitely a positive addition. Keeping him moving is also important.

I didn't see mentioned as to what he is eating and that could be an important piece. The way I look at the Bredesen protocol as well as the others is that at its simplest - it is trying to get you to be in the best health you can be - optimal health. I don't think that is a bad goal no matter what your situation is or what age you are. So could you Dad get benefits from this, he could. But as you know there are no guarantees that it will results in reversal of dementia or alzheimers. But I will say this, in my limited experience so far no one is worse. They start holding steady.

Caregivers become very stressed in caring for someone with dementia. So self-care will be very important for you. Try and widen your circle of support as much as you can. Caregivers health can decline if they don't take care of themselves and then who will take care of their loved one? So it is very important.

As far as the information on this site is concerned, I recommend exploring the Primer because it contains a ton of information. And I just want to point out you can search the site using the magnifying glass at the top right of the page.

Remember to take care of yourself.....

[TheresaB]

Is there anyone else on this forum who has vascular dementia, not just recently diagnosed, and has made progress with this protocol? We three have done 23AndMe, and my father has one copy of e4.

Welcome aboard. I do not have Vascular Dementia, I do not know much about it, but your story touched my heart and I wanted to reach out to you. From my research, there does appear to be a connection between vascular dementia and ApoE4, although the connection is not as strong as the connection with Alzheimer’s Disease, nevertheless, there might be some nuggets you can gain from following us and/or asking questions.

As I understand it, Vascular Dementia is the result of cardiovascular disease impairing blood flow to the brain and often results after a stroke. I wonder if your father has been placed on statins (you don’t necessarily have to answer). But if yes, you might want to do some investigating and questioning as to the rationale behind that. I have a friend with a ZERO Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) scan, i.e. NO calcium in artery walls, so virtually no risk for a cardiovascular event, but the medical folks concluded he should go on statins. The issue that precipitated this was a stroke. But the stroke was caused by a blood clot from an injury, when the clot broke loose he had a stroke. But all the medical profession saw was a stroke, therefore they concluded statins were in order. Fortunately, my friend evaluated the situation from a broader perspective and refused to go on statins.

I’m not saying statins are the devil’s workshop, they have their place, but I do feel they’re over prescribed ESPECIALLY in the older population. The brain is largely made of cholesterol, low cholesterol is associated with brain atrophy, and in older folks having high cholesterol seems to be a benefit.

According to this interview with Tommy Wood,
http://www.nourishbalancethrive.com/pod ... nges-chol/ the older we get, the more protective cholesterol is, that high total cholesterol is only an issue when someone is younger. Data was taken from the Journal of Medical Insurance and where they had 1.5 million applicants for medical insurance and followed over an average of 12 years. They found for men above 60 years old the optimal reference range looks like 170 to 270, and in women, total cholesterol 200 to 300.

Just riffing here, some other articles:
https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/be ... olesterol/
https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-manag ... der-people
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5429025/

Okay, getting off that tangent. Mostly, I just wanted to say welcome and that I wish the best for your father. I personally know how difficult it an be to want the best for a loved one and my heart goes out to you as a caregiver. If nothing else, let it be known we care.

[R-Daughter]

Thank you for your kind words and links! Yes, Dad had at least one mini-stroke before 2010, when I moved nearby. He also had multiple nosebleeds after my mother died, but not since.

[slacker]

Lovely response TheresaB.

R-Daughter, there can be overlap with vascular dementia and Alzheimer's, so I agree that trying some of the suggested interventions (per the Primer or Dr Bredesen) may be of help for your father. All the advice can be rather overwhelming, so start with what seems most straightforward and manageable to you. Nutrition, sleep, exercise, and stress management might be good initial steps - one at a time!

[mike]

Yes exercise! I'm 58 and working with a PT after having a brainstem blood clot a few years back, and it has been the biggest help to my recovery.

[CuriousJJ]

My father has "walking companions" a few times a week, who report that he has been shuffling now and then, not picking up his feet properly. That resulted in a minor fall and his health insurance is now paying for PT once a week. I put him through in-bed exercises in the mornings. I know that dementia can affect motor functions like walking, so I'm not sure the PT will help.
I feel like my own brain and body are getting rusty! Do any other caregivers worry about having dementia?

I am a new member too, taking care of my Mom, aged 79, who has moderate to severe Alzheimer's and secondary mixed dementia. She lives about 5 minutes away in a Memory Care Home, and I spend time with her several times a week when in town. Similar to your Dad, she has declined in her walking too, developing a shuffle, not unlike what you see in Parkinson's although she does not seem to have Parkinson's. She has had PT, but since she has no short-term memory, I'm not sure how helpful the PT is. We discovered that one of her mood regulating medications, Depakote, caused her to have high levels of ammonia in her brain, which is quite harmful. So we stopped that medication, and her shuffling improved a little bit, but not a whole lot.

I worry that I am at a high risk for developing dementia, and every time I forget a word, or my brain feels foggy, I'm convinced it's already starting at age 48. It's probably NOT, and more likely hormones (I blame everything on hormones LOL) but I do understand your worry. You sound like an amazing person and wonderful daughter.

Take Care,
Jenn

[R-Daughter]

Thanks! I am too old to blame anything on menopause. There are lists of general ways to stay healthy and dementia-free. I know I need to get more sleep, and good quality sleep. That's gotta be what's wrong with me!