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Online Library: Alzheimer's Disease
The following pages provide an overview of the most recent research and clinical studies about the health benefits of micronutrients in fighting Alzheimer's disease. This collection of scientific facts proves that anyone who privately or publicly questions the health value of micronutrients does not serve YOUR health, or the health of the people, but rather the multi-billion dollar investment 'business with disease' based on patented pharmaceutical drugs.
We encourage you to forward the link to this important online library on natural health – one of the largest ones in the world – to your friends. You may also print out the articles you find most important for your own health condition and share them with your doctor. Any responsibly acting health professional will be grateful to receive such science-based health education.
A controlled trial of selegiline, alpha-tocopherol, or both as treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine 1997;336(17):1216-22
Affiliation:
Abstract: BACKGROUND: There is evidence that medications or vitamins that increase the levels of brain catecholamines and protect against oxidative damage may reduce the neuronal damage and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, multicenter trial in patients with Alzheimer's disease of moderate severity. A total of 341 patients received the selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor selegiline (10 mg a day), alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E, 2000 IU a day), both selegiline and alpha-tocopherol, or placebo for two years. The primary outcome was the time to the occurrence of any of the following: death, institutionalization, loss of the ability to perform basic activities of daily living, or severe dementia (defined as a Clinical Dementia Rating of 3). RESULTS: Despite random assignment, the baseline score on the Mini-Mental State Examination was higher in the placebo group than in the other three groups, and this variable was highly predictive of the primary outcome (P<0.001). In the unadjusted analyses, there was no statistically significant difference in the outcomes among the four groups. In analyses that included the base-line score on the Mini-Mental State Examination as a covariate, there were significant delays in the time to the primary outcome for the patients treated with selegiline (median time, 655 days; P=0.012), alpha-tocopherol (670 days, P=0.001) or combination therapy (585 days, P=0.049), as compared with the placebo group (440 days). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with moderately severe impairment from Alzheimer's disease, treatment with selegiline or alpha-tocopherol slows the progression of disease.
Ascorbic acid in cerebrospinal fluid - a possible protection against free radicals in the brain.
Source: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 1995;21(1):43-8.
Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Debrecen Medical School, Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98., 4012 Hungary.
Abstract: Ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbate levels in the plasma and CSF of 12 patients with senile dementia of moderate grade Alzheimer's type were found to be significantly lower than 15 young, healthy volunteers. An intravenous infusion of 2 gm of ascorbic acid in 5 of these patients showed an active transport process for vitamin C from the plasma through the blood-CSF barrier. The study confirmed the free radical scavenging function of ascorbic acid in the central nervous system. Monitoring ascorbic acid levels in the plasma of demented patients is recommended because of its protective role in the free radical process that occurs in dementia. The amyloid precursor proteins aggregate only in the presence of free radicals. Vitamin C may reduce the harmful effects of free radicals in the brain.
Plasma concentrations of vitamins A and E and carotenoids in Alzheimer's disease.
Source: Age and Ageing. 1992;21(2):91-4.
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Pathology, Central Middlesex Hospital, London.
Abstract: This study of Alzheimer's and multi-infarct dementia patients, compared to nondemented elderly controls, found that in the 20 Alzheimer's and multi-infarct dementia patients there were significantly lower levels of vitamin E and beta-carotene than controls. Vitamin A was significantly reduced only in Alzheimer's disease patients. Vitamins A and E and the carotenoids act as free radical scavengers and their deficiency may increase the degenerative neurologic process in the brain and thereby exacerbate dementia.
Thiamine and Alzheimer's disease. A pilot study.
Source: Arch Neurol. 1988 Aug;45(8):833-5.
Affiliation: Will Rogers Institute, White Plains, NY.
Abstract: Seven females and 4 males who were between 59 and 83 years of age with Alzheimer's disease participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study evaluating the effects of 3 g/day of oral thiamin hydrochloride for 3 months compared with a placebo, 3 times daily. Results showed that the Mini-Mental State Examination was higher during the 3 months with 3 g/day of oral thiamin hydrochloride than with the placebo. These patients were not thiamin deficient in the conventional sense, malnourished or alcoholics.
Inositol treatment of Alzheimer's disease: a double blind, cross-over placebo controlled trial.
Source: Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 1996 May;20(4):729-35
Affiliation: Abarbanel Mental Health Center, Bat Yam, Israel.
Abstract: In a double-blind crossover study, inositol at 6 grams per day versus glucose for 1 month each was carried out in 11 Alzheimer's disease patients. There was an overall improvement in the Cognitive Subscale of the Cambridge Mental Disorder of the Elderly Examination (CAMDEX) with inositol but it was not significant. Language and orientation improved significantly more with inositol than the placebo. There were no serious side effects. The authors feel that higher doses of inositol should be studied in Alzheimer's disease patients for longer periods of time.