Archive for the ‘herbal’ Category

Is Green Tea the Cure for Alzheimers?

Nov 7th, 11 / 0 Comments








It turns out that green tea just might have have the ability to cure Alzheimer’s disease. One of the ingredients in green tea, Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) apparently reduced the amount of beta-amyloid plaque by 60% in the test subjects when combined with a red laser light.

Thinking Voodoo therapy? Well, apparently a research team headed by Andrei Sommer at the University of Ulm in Germany showed that red lasers when applied to the brain drove water out of the cells. And if they could get chemicals into the blood stream near these cells, the water-starved cells would suck it back into themselves. (As an aside, it is notoriously difficult to get chemicals into brain cells – a self-defense mechanism we seem to have)

So when the compounds in green tea were taken orally and the red laser applied, the research team found the 60% decrease.

Red laser treatment alone reduced the plaque by 20%.

What isn’t clear (but heavily claimed by health food proponents) is whether there is any cure for Alzheimer’s using green tea without laser treatment. Or whether there’s any effect at all.

The jury is still out on this one folks but hey, green tea is good stuff and it doesn’t hurt you. This one falls into the “I don’t know but it can’t hurt me so let’s all drink it” category.

herbal, research, treatment, Uncategorized

Fish Oil and Alzheimers

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments








Combining fish oil and Alzheimers might not seem productive but one of the most promising and easily taken of supplements is high-grade fish oil.

However, studies at UCLA show that people who get enough DHA (the active ingredient in fish oil) have a reduced risk of getting Alzheimer;s Disease.<

The Details

Those affected by Alzheimers have low levels of a brain protein named LR11. It turns out that 15% of those with Alzheimers have a genetically lowered level of LR11.

LR11 and having enough of it keeps the brain free of the gumming up plaque that creates Alzheimer’s. So we want this material and lots of it.For some reason, eating enough DHA causes the brain to produce a lot of LR11.

The Bottom Line

Eating enough fish oil will likely delay the onset of Late-Onset Alzheimer;s Disease.If a loved one already has the disease in later stages, there is not much benefit to fish oil because it doesn’t repair the damage, only prevent it. The researchers said there may be some advantage in very early onset patients to help delay the full effects of the plaque.

You can get DHA in fish oils, eating oily fish themselves directly or almonds, walnuts, soy, and DHA-enriched eggs.







herbal, medications, nutrition, research

Gingko biloba and Alzheimers

May 6th, 10 / 0 Comments








A study just released by the Virginia School of Medicine suggests that the herbal supplement Gingko biloba may not have any influence on the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the main uses of the leaves of this plant has been as a general tonic, a memory booster and preventative of brain degeneration but in the clinical trials of just over 3000 people, the claims for prevention of Alzheimer’s did not show any justification.

Patients were 75 or older, were from 6 locations across the US to remove any geographic bias and the study lasted 6 years. Each person took two doses every day of a 120 milligram extract (half took the Gingko – half took the placebo)

Patients entering the study had either no symptoms or very mild symptoms of Alzheimers but during the study, 18% of Gingko patients and 16% of placebo group were diagnosed with Alzheimers. This essentially means that the placebo and Gingko were equal in effectiveness.

In the article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers wrote that they hadn’t seen any positive difference using the herb. Dr. Steven DeKosky was quoted as saying that he was disappointed in the results because it would seem that Gingko has good antioxidant properties that might have an impact.

You can expect that the herbal supplement people were upset with this finding suggesting that the results would be different if the study were to go on longer than 6 years. Also that the study would be different if the patients had started taking the herbal supplement earlier in their lives.

So bottom line… the biggest medical research trial to date in the U.S. has not found any use for associating Gingko biloba and Alzheimers. But the herbal industry isn’t buying it.
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herbal, nutrition, research