NEWS

Giving Alzheimer's a walk-over

CRAIG HANDEL
CHANDEL@NEWS-PRESS.COM
John Grossenbacher talks with Dr. Fred Schaerf about possibly participating in an Alzheimer's study for people with no symptoms that follows subjects for five years. Grossenbacher's mother died from Alzheimer's.

When Lee Memorial Hospital CEO and president Jim Nathan spoke recently at a Healthy Lee conference, he talked about wanting to see the day when neighborhoods would be filled with friends taking walks together.

If that is done on a regular basis, a big step could be taken to reduce Alzheimer's Disease.

"Over half of Alzheimers disease is caused by preventable and modifiable factors, such as diet and exercise," said Dr. Fred Schaerf, The Neuropsychiatric Research Center of Southwest Florida's principal investigator. The source of that information comes from Dr. Deborah Barnes, who added dementia is supposed to quadruple in the next 40 years. Currently, about 5.4 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer's Disease, a form of dementia.

Schaerf is overseeing research on an experimental drug that has shown promise in slowing Alzheimer's disease. Qualified seniors have the chance to take part in trials in the coming weeks in the center.

"In the meantime, our group has changed its approach in that we've given talks also on brain health," he said. "Most people don't think of the brain as an important organ until they're 50."

Schaerf said recommended reading is Naples' Dr. David Perlmutter, who wrote the New York Times best-selling book 'Grain Brain'. On his blog, Perlmutter wrote women represent approximately 65 percent of Alzheimer's cases while the annual cost for caring for Alzheimer's patients exceeds $200 billion.

"The biggest issue is that Type 2 Diabetes doubles a person risk for Alzheimer's," Perlmutter said. "And we have 26 million Americans who have diabetes."

Perlmutter calls wheat, carbohydrates and sugars the brain's silent killers. He added that gluten and wheat products have surprised doctors in how much of a threat they are to the heart, joints and skin as well as the brain.

"There are so many hidden sources of carbohydrates," he said. "Rice, cereal, pasta. Wheat pasta has a lot of carbohydrates. So do rice and corn pasta. We're also seeing the effects of gluten. It's putting stress to our gut's integrity and causing body-wide inflammation. Also compelling is that diet drinks make a person twice as high a risk for diabetes than those who drink sugar-sweetened drinks. The reason that happens is changes in the gut's bacteria from artificial sweeteners. It changes the body's glucose levels. That's why people who drink diet drinks with no calories and no sugar gain weight."

Schaerf said even though every neuron in the brain uses glucose as an energy source, the brain doesn't like glucose. He added patients who have hypertension, heart disease and high cholesterol as well as diabetes also are more likely to get Alzheimer's.

If a person wants to copy a lifestyle that can reduce their chances of the disease, take a trip to Sardinia, Italy. Residents often live past 100. A story in Emax Health said scientists believe Sardinian men share a genetic trait passed from father to son that makes them less likely than the general population to die from heart disease or stroke. However, its citizens feel their unpolluted air, lack of stress and a healthy diet are other keys to long-lasting life.

Residents often walk miles over hilly roads to buy their groceries.

"The data coming in is that walking is one of the best things," Schaerf said. "It releases a hormone from the bones called osteocalcin. That stimulates many things, among them new neurons that grow in your brain. Walking also releases neuro transmitters, increase the oxygen to your brain and increases well-being because it releases dopamine and other neuro transmitters to make you feel better."

The Sardinian diet includes fresh locally grown foods prepared simply with olive oil, lemon and garlic to compliment dishes. Meals are served in small courses usually with a pasta or soup first, a main dish with a focus on plant-based foods such as vegetables, legumes, and nuts, and ending with a salad to aid in digestion. Perlmutter said nuts, seeds, olive oil, grass-fed beef, free-range eggs and coconut oil are fats Americans should have more of.

Schaerf emphasized that diet and exercise are just two factors in a wide array of things people need to do to counter the potential of Alzheimer's. As an example, studies show listening to music with headphones for an hour a day is highly beneficial to brain health.

"It's a multi-faceted approach," Schaerf said. "It's silly to have one approach. My particular training blinds me to that. In research, we're looking for that one molecule. But diet, walking, music, not getting stressed, not suffering from depression also help."

We are becoming more brain wise, Schaerf said, but it's a daily challenge to avoid doing things that aren't good for us in the short or long term.

"Someone said, 'We're so worked up in our world, we can't appreciate water dropping on us in a shower,' " he said. "We're missing the moment.

"The reality is people are worried about feeding families and paying bills. The brain is not a priority."