From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   Overcoming Alzheimer's: Letting Nature Fight Back   
      
   Friday, April 16, 2010   
      
      
   In the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey, played by Jimmy   
   Stewart, joyfully re-enters the real world after his nightmare vision of a   
   world without him. Seeing the town sign, he shouts with glee, "Hello, Bedford   
   Falls!"   
      
   Bill and Nita Scoggan also love their friendly town -- not any cinematic   
   Bedford Falls -- but the real Bedford, Ind., hub of Lawrence County and known   
   as "the limestone capital of the world."   
      
   The couple does think it's a wonderful life now, but like Stewart's character,   
   Bill Scoggan was not himself. Eleven years ago, he began showing serious signs   
   of dementia.   
      
   Slight, But Noticeable Changes   
      
   The first hint had come years earlier when Scoggan worked for the Defense   
   Intelligence Agency in the Washington, D.C., area. He was responsible around   
   the clock supervising 125 employees.   
      
   "It was awful tough getting up in front of those people sometimes," Scoggan   
   recalled. "I'd forget what I was really up there for."   
      
   Forgetfulness is one of the early signs of Alzheimer's disease. The kind of   
   stress Scoggan was under is known to contribute to Alzheimer's.   
      
   He soon retired from his stressful job. However, the couple stayed active in   
   Christian ministry, even leading Bible studies at the Pentagon and White House.   
      
   Then Scoggan stopped wanting to be active.   
      
   "I'd say, 'Honey, let's do so and so, let's go somewhere with so and so,'"   
   Nita Scoggan said. "[And he'd say], 'Oh I don't feel like doing it, let's do   
   it another time.'"   
      
   A Slow Decline   
      
   As time went on, Scoggan also realized something was wrong. He says there are   
   a thousand excuses to be in denial.   
      
   "But as it progresses more and more and more and you start realizing, 'Hey,   
   I've got a problem,'" he said.   
      
   Doctors couldn't find anything wrong. As Scoggan's condition worsened, his   
   wife decided to move him back to his native Indiana.   
      
   By that time, Scoggan could no longer drive or even remember his home town.   
   Nita Scoggan said he hardly had an inkling of where they were going.   
      
   "I just kept saying we were going to Indiana, everything's going to be   
   wonderful," she said. "He was scared because he really didn't know what was   
   going on and he cried. Of course that would just break my heart."   
      
   Doctors finally categorized Scoggan's condition as Alzheimer's rather than   
   some other form of dementia. They had eliminated the other possibilities.   
      
   Scoggan was placed on the drug Aricept, one brand of acetylcholinesterase   
   inhibitors commonly given to Alzheimer's patients. Nita Scoggan told the   
   doctor it wasn't working.   
      
   Like his other physicians, Scoggan's long-term dentist witnessed his mental   
   decline. Dr. Lawrence Howell saw a replication of the ravages his own mother   
   with Alzheimer's had faced.   
      
   "It was becoming more and more difficult for him to sit in the chair and   
   process what we were talking about, the work that needed to be done," Howell   
   said.   
      
   Scoggan also lost all interest in activities he once enjoyed like hunting,   
   gardening, and even eating. He began spending most of his time in bed.   
      
   Searching for Help   
      
   Nita Scoggan prayed desperately for a way to help her husband. Once a crack   
   researcher at the Pentagon, she put those skills to work digging for   
   information on what's good for the brain.   
      
   First, that led her to put Scoggan on a low-carbohydrate diet devoid of   
   potatoes, corn, bread and pasta. Her research -- coinciding with the opinion   
   of many leading brain experts -- led her to conclude that starchy carbs make   
   the brain sluggish.   
      
   "His favorite foods that I've been trying to fix for him all these years we've   
   been married is making him worse," she said.   
      
   In the process Mrs. Scoggan also found a nutrient produced in the body called   
   phosphatidylserine, or PS. The body makes less and less of this fat with age,   
   but PS is in health food stores for about a dollar a capsule.   
      
   Phosphatidylserine boosts the brain by increasing the movement of nutrition   
   into and the waste out of nerve cells. In several European countries, doctors   
   prescribe PS for dementia and depression in the elderly.   
      
   Nita began giving Bill three PS capsules, 300 milligrams, every day. Two   
   months later his mind started showing evidence of clarity.   
      
   "When she'd say, 'Well, you know, we're going to have breakfast,' the thought   
   was that we need cereal bowls or we need milk or whatever it was that we   
   needed. And I just kind of got up and started doing those things," Scoggan   
   recalled.   
      
   Signs of Improvement   
      
   His improvement continued especially as they added other brain boosters like   
   fish oil, coenzyme Q10, carnitine and magnesium.   
      
   Within a year after starting PS, Scoggan was back driving their van around   
   town and eventually on highways back to visit in the D.C. area. Dental visits   
   became a more pleasant experience for both doctor and patient.   
      
   Now five years later, Scoggan is able to enjoy activities at the local senior   
   center. He's able to concentrate on yard work and even help out in the   
   kitchen. Scoggan's neurologists were amazed at the turnaround.   
      
   All this comes thanks to changes in his diet including the addition of a   
   simple dietary supplement. That discovery was an answer to prayer for the   
   Scoggans.   
      
   Nita Scoggan points heavenward.   
      
   "God gets all the glory," she said. "It's just such a thrill to be able to   
   share it with people and give them hope."   
      
   *Originally aired Sept. 23, 2009.   
      
      
   http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2009/September/Overcomi   
   g-Dementia-Letting-Nature-Fight-Back/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)