Is there a recipe for Alzheimer’s Disease?

“What causes Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)?” I recently read an article written by Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. I know from my years at Harvard that MIT does not employ dummies. So it’s worthwhile reading her “Recipe for Developing AD.”

Danger One

- Be skeptical about current drug therapy. Seneff says the general belief is that amyloid plaques in the brain are associated with AD. But although drugs can decrease the size of plaques, they also accelerate the rate of mental decline. So prevention is currently the only way to treat this dreaded disease.

Danger Two.

- Seneff reports “Together with colleagues I published a paper this year on a theory for the cause of AD, which was based on the idea that a key contributor is insufficient cholesterol in the brain. And that two of the CLDs (cholesterol lowering drugs) do interfere with the production of cholesterol in the brain.”

- Seneff adds that studies show that those who took CLDs had over two and a half times greater risk of developing AD when compared to non-users. She also believes that doctors do take their patients off CLDs when they start to develop memory problems. But at this point it may be too late for patients to recover.

- This danger has always worried me as the brain contains 25 per cent of the cholesterol in the body and every cell needs it. We also know that some patients on CLDs develop emotional problems. In fact, in severe cases it results in total amnesia and the only cure is to discontinue this medication.

Danger Three

- Seneff claims the consumption of sugar, particularly fructose, has steadily increased over the last few decades, and is a hazard for AD. In this case proteins in the cell get “gummed up with sugar” and can no longer function.

Danger Four

- It’s been suspected for years that aluminum may be related to AD. Seneff shares this concern and believes that aluminum, present in sunscreen, antiperspirants and many antacids, may be a factor in this disease. She makes another interesting point that it’s been demonstrated without a doubt that aluminum in water, used in renal dialysis, leads to dementia in patients unless all but trace amounts of this mineral are removed.

Danger Five

- Today there is much debate about vaccines. Seneff is concerned about the myriad dangers of aluminum in vaccines and their penetration into brain has been demonstrated in animal studies. She also believes the Hepatitis B vaccine may be associated with autism.

- What about annual flu shots? The elderly are encouraged to renew their flu shot every single year, but Seneff believes, contrary to other experts, that this is another major factor in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease as about half of flu vaccines contain mercury, a preservative, which is probably the most toxic heavy metal known.