A new study finds lifestyle changes can improve Alzheimer’s Disease
A new study by Dr. Dean Ornish and colleagues found that lifestyle could improve memory testing scores and biomarker tests after 20 weeks, while people who did not make lifestyle changes continued to have worsening scores.
You can read the full paper here.
We’ve summarized who was studied, what they did, and what they found for you in this Update.
For a reminder of how to use health research, read this aldora article.
Who was studied?
Researchers recruited people who were between 45 and 90 years of age (average about 73).
They had a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (aka pre-dementia) or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s Disease.
They had to be able to participate in exercise, and could not have other causes of dementia (such as vascular dementia, Lewy Body disease, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, etc).
The average age was 73 years lived, and everyone had mild memory problems (either pre-dementia or early dementia).
What did they do?
They had memory testing and biomarker testing done up front, then followed an intensive lifestyle program for 20 weeks, then repeated the testing.
Because it’s important to not just say “lifestyle”, and assume it’s all the same, we’ve combed through the research and pulled out exactly what they did, summarized below.
Pen and paper tests of memory and thinking were done before the study, and after 20 weeks of treatment.
What was the diet?
Plant-based diet, mostly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, soy products, seeds, and nuts. There was no restriction on calories.
Prepared meals were delivered to the participants homes for 20 weeks, free of charge.
21 meals a week and snacks were provided to participants, free of charge.
What supplements?
A number of different supplements were also delivered to people’s homes. These included:
Omega-3 1680 mg and Curcumin 800 mg, 4 capsules a day
Multivitamin 1 tablet a day
Coenzyme Q10 400mg a day
Vitamin C 1 gram a day
Vitamin B12 500mcg a day
Magnesium L-Threonate 288mg a day
Hericium erinaceus (Lion’s Mane) 2 grams a day
Super bifido plus probiotic 1 tablet a day
8 different supplements were provided to participants for 20 weeks, free of charge.
What was the exercise?
Walking 30 minutes a day
Mild strength training 3 times a week
Walking for 30 minutes a day, and supervised light strength training 3 times a week.
What was the stress management?
1 hour a day of meditation, gentle yoga-based poses, stretching, progressive relaxation, and breathing exercises, supervised by a certified stress management specialist.
Encouraged to get enough sleep
Yoga, meditation, relaxation, and breathing to calm stress and anxiety, along with adequate sleep.
What else?
4 hours of counselling, 3 times a week
1 hour of supervised exercise
1 hour of stress management
1 hour of support group
1 hour lecture on lifestyle
4 hour long virtual sessions, 3 times a week (1 hour of group discussion, 1 hour of stress management, 1 hour of supervised strength training, and a 1 hour lecture on lifestyle).
What did they find?
There was improvement on a number of different memory testing scores, and the clinician’s overall impression of disease severity.
The amount of improvement was fairly comparable to the improvement seen in some drug studies.
They also found that the amount of beta-amyloid biomarker improved in the blood.
A lower score was better (i.e. the score calculates someone’s degree of memory problems - lower score means you have less problems).
What do I think?
This is an exciting study that shows, once again, that lifestyle can change your life.
Just because you have a diagnosis of mild memory problems, does not mean there is nothing you can do.
You can reverse and improve your disease by changing how you eat, exercise, and sleep/manage stress.
However, this was not a very “real-world” study, in that it would be hard for most people to follow this program on their own, without assistance.
For example, the participants were provided with all of the food for 20 weeks - and asked not to eat anything else.
They also had 4 hour sessions 3 times a week (that’s 12 hours of support!).
While this allows us to know what is possible in the “best case” scenario, it means that to get the same results, we’d all need to be given this same treatment.
Although, when you consider the cost of new dementia drugs in the USA is about $50,000 a year, it might cost less to fund lifestyle - with free food delivery and zoom sessions for a year.
Most other chronic diseases can also be improved with lifestyle, so funding a lifestyle program might cut down health spending in one fell swoop, in a way that no other drug or intervention can do.
Lastly, while I fully agree diet, exercise, and emotional health are 3 pillars to a long and healthy life, I also feel we need to look at the unique causes in the individual - you.
Are you getting enough sleep? Are you lonely? Are you drinking excessive amounts of alcohol? Can you hear well? Do you feel your life has meaning? Is your blood pressure sky high?
These things might be more important in some people - or at least need to be improved first - before diet and exercise.
While we are similar in many ways, each of us has a life - and needs - that are unique to you.