Reversing dementia…

It’s been too long since I posted something here, so here is a blog to tell you about the video series many people with dementia and other chronic illnesses around the world have been watching. A bit of history though, about why I am committed to the notion we can reverse or at least significantly slow down many dementias. 

After being diagnosed in the early stages of a rare younger onset dementia at the age of 49, and being advised to go home and get my end of life affairs in order via aged care because there is no cure nor any drugs available, I initially found dementia a great challenge. Luckily, I’ve been a nurse and also, at the time, was studying at a university, and I soon rejected this unhelpful advice, and termed and Trademarked it as Prescribed Disengagement®. 

With my nurses hat on, I soon realised dementia is the only disease that I knew of where patients are told to go home and give up. 

As a tertiary student, I also realised I was a person living with acquired disabilities, not dissimilar to an acquired brain injury like a stroke. 

This helped me decide to tackle dementia through a common sense approach including healthy lifestyle changes and rehabilitation, much of which has also now become very valid risk reduction evidence. I seriously beleve we wil manage it like most other chronic diseases soon, and that if we don’t do that, as well as place a major fpcus on risk reduction, we are nuts! 

Then in 2014, I read the first Bredesen article (2014) on reversing Alzheimer’s. It confirmed for me I was self prescribing exactly the right post diagnostic pathway, and this researcher has now gone on to reverse or significantly slow down cognitive decline in approximately 90% of the patients he has done trials with, and has a large trial starting soon.  I was definitely excited in 2014, as it confirmed my personal choice!

I’m even more excited now about the Bredesen Protocol as I see it is the way of the future. In fact I’m open to believing Professor Dale Bredesen will win the Nobel Prize for this research in the future! Never forget, we once thought the Earth was flat; patients were already finding ways to live positively with dementia, and now it seems we are also reversing  it.