HUGE THANK YOU

[maddanwill]

Hi. I am a new member. My name is Marie and I am a 58 year old female. About 3 weeks ago the perfect storm hit. I was going through my mother's files and found a brain scan (without contrast) that was done a few years before her death after a fall AND the brain autopsy we had done following her death. The scan spoke of brain atrophy and small vessel ischemic vascular changes. The autopsy confirmed Alzheimer disease Braak and Braak Stage II. It also noted Severe amyloid angiopathy, microvascular ischemic injury in her rt cerebellum, and Frontotemporal dementia, neurofibrillary tangle subtype. My mother's noticeable onset was in 2004 at the age of 75 and she died in 2013 at the age of 84. Gosh I wish I could have those years with her fully functional but I had her and loved her and took good care of her. Miss her every day.

Then I took out my most recent blood work which showed high homocysteine, high LDL, and ApoE3/4! I wish I had paid attention to all this 3 years ago when my Mom died and really looked at my annual bloodwork. Lastly, I had an "episode" approximately 3 months ago that told me something was off. I felt like I was totally out of it. Words wouldn't come to me. My very good math skills left me and MOST IMPORTANTLY my tennis game was way off!! Mild stroke? So I guess someone was hitting me over the head with a hammer telling me to wake up.

I have felt like I have gradually grown less "sharp" over the past 2 decades. I had 3 kids in my late 30's and early 40's. I have always joked that my kids sucked my brain right out of me. Now I know that it wasn't them (at least not until they were teenagers) but rather it was the beginning of my own decline. I am in the process now of creating a base line. I have asked my doctor for Cognitive Testing and a PET Scan so I know exactly where I am now. I have started the LCHF. Ordered my glucometer. Putting together a list of my supplements. Most importantly, i will be formulating am email to my 6 siblings letting them know that they also may be at risk.

Finding this site was a godsend. Though it does make me feel pretty stupid most of the time. But I will get there!

I would like to say that the Primer is AMAZING. Stavia, I can only imagine the hours you spent putting that together. It is incredibly complete and comprehensible for non science people like myself. Juliegee, the hours you have spent answering everyone's questions and sharing your own experiences have put us so much further down the information road. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

[Julie G]

Welcome Marie! I'm delighted that you've found our site to be helpful. At age 58, you're perfectly poised to begin practicing the prevention/remediation strategies we discuss so that you can avoid the vascular dementia that your Mom experienced. Given your Mom's cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA,) you may want to proceed cautiously with fish oil supplements (and other blood thinning agents.) Algae alternatives may help you reach your Omega-3 index goals without thinning your blood too much. Dr. Bredesen has reminded me several times about CAA that typically affects male homozygotes, but can affect anyone. You can read more here. This is also a great reason to manage your blood pressure. I'm so proud of you for recognizing your risk and focusing on optimizing your health. I look forward to progress reports.

[KatieS]

Hi Marie,
I'm another 3/4 with 3 /4 of my grandparents dying from strokes. The strokes occurred well before hypertension was controlled. Now every one just has treated hypertension and seem to be cognitively intact. If you have a similar family history, consider monitoring your B/P with a home cuff especially after stressful situations, poor sleep, jet lag, etc....

It seems like you're quickly on your way towards healing your brain with the diet, supplements (which ones?) and courageous medical testing. I suspect you have plenty of cognitive reserve, so at 58, you will be able to stabilize. Are you on hormonal replacement?

All my immediate family has been tested, all 3/4s, but they choose to ignore the risk and I have to respect this after they have been informed.

Please share your recent labs as I'm sure many more will chime in with suggestions.

[maddanwill]

Julie, Katie,
Thank you for your responses. Julie, I am guessing that fish oil thins the blood. Then is the next step that I should be cutting back on fish consumption also?

Here are my labs from 2016

[maddanwill]

Here is a hand scratched consolidation of bloodwork since 2012

[Julie G]

Julie, I am guessing that fish oil thins the blood. Then is the next step that I should be cutting back on fish consumption also?

Presumably, that could be true, but there are also benefits to fish consumption. Let me clarify why I urge you to be cautious. On several occasions, Dr. Bredesen has reached out and asked me to warn the 4/4 men in our community, who's fathers have had an history of stroke, to be careful with fish oil. Hence, the thread I linked you to earlier. In his work with over 100 patients, he's had two 4/4 males experience a stroke while practicing the protocol. He worried that fish oil could have contributed. When I saw your Mom's history of CAA, I just thought you should be aware. Re. how you can reach your Omega-3 goal (>10%) while not overly thinning blood, leads us into unchartered territory. Some of us have hypothesized that algae supplementation might be helpful, but that should be tested in an N=1. This is definitely something to discuss with your physician.

Looking at your labs, I'm wondering if you're on a statin and/or thyroid medication? You had mentioned high LDL, but I'm not seeing anything alarming there. You triglycerides are admirable. Your HDL and Vitamin D could both be higher. What's your current homocysteine, CRP? Congrats on bringing down your glycemic markers. Keep heading in that direction. Dr. B has lowered his A1c recommendation to <5.3 (I think.) Does anyone else remember?

[KatieS]

M, I'm perplexed why your A1c went from 5.0 to 5.7, generally at the same weight, any dietary change? Statins? Do you supplement with Vitamin D? If so, at a serum level of 43, you might consider a slight bump up. It's hard to get enough vitamin D via our diets and with the use of sunscreens. All your inflammatory cholesterol markers (oxidized LDL, lp(a), etc.. are all optimal.
What was your homocysteine?
Of course, exercise is a mainstay of AD prevention. Sometimes I wonder if just staying busy even with errands like many old folks in my family, might lower the risk. I suspect with 3 kids you're plenty busy, but how would you describe your exercise level?
It appears to me you have a doctor who is aggressively monitoring you, so I think with a few tweaks & testing and continued weight loss, you'll be in the ideal range for all the labs.

[maddanwill]

Y'all are too good! Move to Charleston so I can hang out with you!

Julie, yes Armor Thyroid (how do you know these things??). I will speak to my doc re fish oil and risk. She is wonderful but this is all very new to her. But she is willing to learn. She did refer me to a neurologist and it scared me when I googled him and he was quoted as saying that there were studies that showed that statins could help AD. As far as bloodwork goes....Homocysteine, HgbA1c, Glucose AND Insulin 3 hour, HS-Crp are all to be done within the next few days. Can you think of anything else I should add? B12?

Katie, I exercise alot but not cardio...hate it! I walk 3-4 miles 5 days a week and play tennis 3 -4 days a week. The tennis is doubles so really no cardio there. Just hired a trainer and communicated my need for interval training. Re my Hga1c, I have no idea why it went from 5.0 to 5.7?! To embarass myself, I have had these workups for 4 years now and have really never given them much thought. Can you imagine if I had 4 more years of clean living under my belt?!

I have been listening to tons of podcasts on my walks. I heard one today in which Bredesen said they now look at 100 different things when evaluating a person for treatment. These 100 "things" are then fed into a computer and some software algorithms (sounds like it is still in beta) churns out a plan of treatment. How do we do that? I cannot find a practitioner (yet) who has any experience in AD, MCI etc. My question is should I pursue metal screening, lyme screening (I remember having a test years ago that I had been exposed to Lyme but now it was dormant? I also had chronic infection of sweat glands in my armpits from puberty until I had them removed 15 years later. I feel like it was estrogen related and wonder if it is something that should be investigated. Should I test again for thyroid antibodies that showed up in past blood test?

Of course I say to myself...."Marie, how do you eat an elephant?" I answer HAHA we are not allowed to eat elephants...they are not on the Mediterranean diet!! BUT i feel the clock ticking. Thanks for all your help. XO