If you’ve just started your research into the Bredesen Protocol, then read on to find out what we were most excited about back in 2016, and now.
The Bredesen Protocol on the Today Show
As part of Alzheimer Awareness Month in November 2016, the Today Show featured interviews with Dr Dale Bredesen and two patients who have experienced positive results since following the Bredesen Protocol.
When asked about how this new way of treating cognitive decline had come about, Dr Bredesen explained:
 ‘We spent 27 years in the laboratory looking at which features drive the underlying problem.’
One patient described her experience of developing early-onset cognitive decline in her forties. A busy mum-of-four, she found herself forgetting faces, names and getting seriously concerned for her ability to lead a normal life.
She did some research, and began the Bredesen Protocol as an experimental program.
‘Mentally, I feel at least in my thirties’, she says, aged 50 at the time of filming, and talking about the success so far of her treatment according to the Bredesen Protocol.
What Does the Bredesen Protocol Mean?
The guidance and ‘prescription’, as it were, is simple enough:
- Eat a Mediterranean diet high in vegetables and good fats
- Get Regular cardio exercise
- Fast for 12 hours after dinner
- Complete regular brain training exercises
- Get at least 8 hours of sleep
- Follow regiment of supplements to address each patient’s deficiencies
But how can all of these things, done together, reverse the effects of cognitive impairment?
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Since this feature on The Today Show, scientific research has concluded that Alzheimer’s Disease is actually several different diseases, and each has a different optimal treatment.
There has been a mindset change, as we move from 20th century medical ideas, to a more modern approach. Now, huge datasets can be used to compare and explore diagnoses and patients, and figure out why a particular condition is present, not just to confirm that it is, in fact, there.
In order to approach how an individual is cured, we must first be able to see how their imbalances have come about.
One analogy is that of repairing a roof with 45 holes. Until now, we have just repaired the leaks that we could see, or in other words, the symptoms of the problems. With the far more comprehensive testing promoted by The Bredesen Protocol, we can see even the smallest holes in the roof, or imbalances in the body, whilst still retaining the view of the bigger picture of what these issues are doing to a person’s overall health.
That is why the treatment plans must be followed in detail! Exercise with no nutrition changes, or doing everything except the overnight fasting, will affect how efficiently the plan works for each person.
Plus, the treatment plans can and should be personalised for each patient, and the particular imbalances that are causing the cognitive decline.
The Bredesen Protocol: What Happens Now?
Since the 2016 feature, research has only strengthened our understanding of how the Bredesen Protocol can slow and even reverse the effects of cognitive decline.
In fact, medical practitioners all over are now choosing to train in the creation and delivery of this personalised treatment plan for Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Here at Cogmission, we’re based in sunny Edinburgh, and our clinic directors Jean and Charmaine have both undertaken the detailed training course with Dr Bredesen.
You can read more about our experiences here.
Got some questions? Anything at all we can help you with?
Just get in touch!