From: hounddog23x@gmail.com   
      
   CO.EXIST   
      
   CAN YOUNG PEOPLE PREVENT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, DECADES BEFORE THEY MIGHT GET IT?   
      
   THROUGH HIS PERSONAL STORY, A FILMMAKER EXPLORES THE GROWING RESEARCH INTO HOW   
   ONE'S LIFE HABITS CAN REDUCE RISK FOR THE BRAIN DISEASE.   
      
   BY ARIEL SCHWARTZ   
    254 SHARES   
   Like many people, Max Lugavere has an Alzheimer's story. Three years ago,   
   while the filmmaker was busy figuring out his next steps after a stint as a   
   host on Al Gore's now-defunct Current TV, Lugavere's mother started showing   
   cognitive decline. She was    
   just 59 at the time.   
      
   After bringing her to numerous neurologists and being met with limited   
   options, Lugavere became concerned for his own health. So he went on a   
   research binge, setting Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, as his   
   target.   
      
   "So often, so little can be done for neurodegenerative diseases," he says.   
   "I'm obsessed with trying to figure out the underlying pathology, the way our   
   environment interacts with our genes." Eventually, Lugavere's research pointed   
   him to the emerging    
   idea that Alzheimer's is preventable (at least, for a certain subset of the   
   population). With over five million people in the U.S. suffering from   
   Alzheimer's--the number will likely triple by 2050--that's a tantalizing   
   prospect.   
      
   Bread Head, a documentary from Lugavere looking at the ways that lifestyle,   
   diet, and genetics affect Alzheimer's risk, is now raising money on   
   Kickstarter.   
      
      
   "I took the fact that I'm obsessed with the brain and my own cognitive   
   boundaries and looked at how to help her and also optimize my own brain health   
   and prevent changes from happening to me," says the 32-year-old. "The most   
   powerful insight I came    
   across is that Alzheimer's is diabetes of the brain."   
      
   For anyone with a family history of Alzheimer's, this sounds like the most   
   tempting kind of pseudo-science. But Lugavere's assertions, which he plans to   
   explore in the documentary, are not entirely unfounded. A study published last   
   year in Lancet    
   Neurology estimated that one-third of Alzheimer's cases "might be attributable   
   to potentially modifiable risk factors" like hypertension, lack of exercise,   
   diabetes, and smoking.   
      
   Lugavere points to the recently-opened Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic, run by   
   Dr. Richard Isaacson of Weill Cornell Medical Center, as one of a growing   
   number of solutions for people like himself--young, healthy individuals who   
   are concerned about their    
   future risk of neurodegenerative disease. A brochure explains the clinic's   
   approach:   
      
   Individuals interested in lowering risk for AD can be followed over time and   
   receive a personalized plan based on a variety of elements, such as their risk   
   factors, genes, past/present medical conditions, and the latest scientific   
   research. Patients will    
   be cared for using sophisticated and interactive, state-of-the-art research   
   tools...We emphasize lifestyle and nutritional approaches and study the   
   effects of dietary modifications on brain health.   
      
   As you might have inferred from the title of the movie, Lugavere plans to   
   delve into the role that gluten plays in contributing to Alzheimer's. "For   
   decades we've been told to eat as many whole grains as we possibly can, and   
   we're now starting to see    
   effects of this misinformed advice. We're not going to specifically single out   
   bread, but it's an example of an ultra-processed food masquerading as a   
   staple," he says.   
      
   Avoiding processed foods certainly can't hurt. But the science on improved   
   health from going gluten-free (for people without Celiac disease, at least) is   
   shaky at best.   
      
   Nonetheless, Lugavere's documentary may spur some much-needed discussion on   
   Alzheimer's prevention. "I've chosen to thrust myself into the fight," he says.   
      
   January 22, 2015 | 10:01 AM   
      
      
   http://m.fastcoexist.com/3040756/fund-this/can-young-people-prev   
   nt-alzheimers-disease-decades-before-they-might-get-it   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)