Episode 122

Buyer Beware: Alzheimer’s Society of Canada & Doctor Warn of Misleading Alzheimer’s Claims

In today’s episode, Lisa discusses information presented by The Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s research program that sheds light on a current program that claims to reverse Alzheimer’s disease, despite a lack of evidence that it works. Additionally, Dr. Reza Hosseini Ghomi, MD, MSE. Dr. Ghomi, who is a Neuropsychiatrist,  a 2X Best-Selling Author, and an expert on dementia, who has diagnosed over 1000 dementia cases throughout his career, also shares his own independent facts about the exact same claims that are revealed by the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s research program.  Listen to this episode to find out the details of what you definitely need to be aware of , and why, in order to make an informed decision if you are considering one of these existing programs.  The findings in both of these articles are astonishing!   

Mentioned Resources:

About the Host:

Author Lisa Skinner is a behavioral specialist with expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. In her 30+year career working with family members and caregivers, Lisa has taught them how to successfully navigate the many challenges that accompany this heartbreaking disease. Lisa is both a Certified Dementia Practitioner and is also a certified dementia care trainer through the Alzheimer’s Association. She also holds a degree in Human Behavior.

Her latest book, “Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s – Its Secret Faces” continues Lisa’s quest of working with dementia-related illnesses and teaching families and caregivers how to better understand the daunting challenges of brain disease. Her #1 Best-seller book “Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost,” was written at their urging. As someone who has had eight family members diagnosed with dementia, Lisa Skinner has found her calling in helping others through the struggle so they can have a better-quality relationship with their loved ones through education and through her workshops on counter-intuitive solutions and tools to help people effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. Lisa Skinner has appeared on many national and regional media broadcasts. Lisa helps explain behaviors caused by dementia, encourages those who feel burdened, and gives practical advice for how to respond.

So many people today are heavily impacted by Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The Alzheimer's Association and the World Health Organization have projected that the number of people who will develop Alzheimer's disease by the year 2050 worldwide will triple if a treatment or cure is not found. Society is not prepared to care for the projected increase of people who will develop this devastating disease. In her 30 years of working with family members and caregivers who suffer from dementia, Lisa has recognized how little people really understand the complexities of what living with this disease is really like. For Lisa, it starts with knowledge, education, and training.

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Transcript
Lisa Skinner:

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the truth, lies

Lisa Skinner:

and Alzheimer Show. I'm your host, Lisa Skinner, and I am

Lisa Skinner:

going to bring up a topic today that is a little uncomfortable,

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but I felt very strongly that I need to bring it to everybody's

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attention, because it's based on the name of my show, truth, lies

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and Alzheimer's. And I think everybody has a right to be

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privy to information that's out there when it comes to making

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decisions for your loved ones who are living with Alzheimer's

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disease. And where I found this article with actually was

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published on the website of the Alzheimer's Society of Canada.

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So I'm going to read this to you. They're obviously very

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concerned about it. When I read it, I was I've also been aware

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of some of these companies and the claims that they're making

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to treat reverse Alzheimer's, and I think that it's only fair

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to all of you to be at least be aware of This information, and

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that way you can make informed decisions for whatever direction

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you choose to go in with your loved ones. So this is referring

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to a doctor, Bredesen, and he has a protocol that he offers

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that the Alzheimer's Society of Canada feels that it's offering

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false hope of reversing Alzheimer's disease. So this is,

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this is what's contained in this publication. It's a program that

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claims to reverse Alzheimer's disease in growth that's growing

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in popularity despite lack of evidence that it works. So in an

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upcoming film called memories for life, reversing Alzheimer's

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will soon be available on streaming services. The film is

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presented as a documentary and highlights a treatment protocol

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for Alzheimer's disease developed by Doctor Dale

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Bredesen and marketed under the name recode. The film and

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Bredesen books and papers make a number of claims about a

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treatment protocol that has not yet been proven. Concerns about

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the protocol have been shared in leading research journals,

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including the lancet neurology journal and theoretical medicine

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and bioethics. Best practices for treating Alzheimer's disease

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are available in more widely verified research, such as the

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fifth Canadian consensus conference on the diagnosis and

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treatment of dementia. So here's what it says about this

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protocol. They first of all, they claim to reverse

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Alzheimer's disease, and with the Alzheimer's Society of

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Canada writes in response to that claim, is, to date, there

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have been no clinically validated systems, medications

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or lifestyle changes proven to reverse Alzheimer's disease. The

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recode system includes blood and DNA tests that claim to review a

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series of factors that contribute to Alzheimer's

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disease, followed by recommendations that claim to

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target these risk factors and or reverse the damage already done

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by them. Finally, the protocol includes several lifestyle

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changes, including diet supplements, exercise, sleep,

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stress reduction and oral hygiene, as well as brain

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training, games. Dr Bredesen claims that each protocol is

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tailored to each individual, while many of the lifestyle

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changes with the Bredesen protocol may indeed benefit

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people living with dementia in terms of supporting better

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quality of life. These changes cannot reverse or cure

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Alzheimer's disease. There are ways to live well with dementia.

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I've discussed that on many of my episodes that have been

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scientifically backed, but making lifestyle changes that

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help to maintain your current functioning can give you time to

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stay connected with friends, family and plan for your future.

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So, you know, I was, I was thinking about this because

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Alzheimer's disease has been a brain disease. It's been around

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since mankind first showed up on Earth, and 125 years since

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Doctor Eloise Alzheimer actually put a name to it and autopsied

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the brain of the client that had it, and saw the plaques and the

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tangles and the brain and decided to call this condition

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Alzheimer's disease. So my feeling is, if somebody out

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there figured out a way to reverse Alzheimer's disease,

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wouldn't it stand to reason that everybody on this planet would

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be rushing to get in on it? That's that's my thought

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process, but that's not happening. So anyway, that's

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just my two cents. There is significant financial investment

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required to undergo go this recode protocol, including the

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program itself, the testing, the supplements, the alternative

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therapies and the special diets that they put their patients on,

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most, if not all, these treatments are not covered by

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health plans. A person may invest 1000s of dollars or more

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in a program that has not been proven to reverse Alzheimer's

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disease. Now this Bredesen recode protocol and other

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programs are offered in Canada by a variety of individuals who

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claim to be experts, though the training program on Bredesen

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company website does not require its trainees to have any sort of

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regulated credential. Medical treatments and lifestyle changes

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while living with dementia should be implemented in

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collaboration with your primary care provider. The claims simply

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aren't backed by science, his research is limited, with papers

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that share anecdotal stories from 10 to 100 people, a larger

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sample size, replication of his protocol and more peer review

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are essential To determine if these claims are valid.

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Anecdotes alone are not enough evidence for a claim of this

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size. Now I am airing this program from the United States,

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and this one is specifically talking about a protocol that is

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offered in Canada, but there are very similar organizations in

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the United States that are offering very similar protocols

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to the one I just read you. So they're here too. As a matter of

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fact, I've read some of Doctor GOMI published pieces in other

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episodes, but for this topic, specifically, he states, now,

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Doc, Doctor GOMI, let me just remind you, he's a

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neuropsychiatrist, an engineer, and he has professionally

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diagnosed in his practice over 1000

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patients, of his patients with Alzheimer's disease or another

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brain disease that Causes dementia. So this is what he

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says on the same exact topic, how do you separate science from

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sales? The This question comes up constantly in my practice. He

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says patients bring me books, websites and protocols promising

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to reverse dementia. Some claim to be evidence based. Others are

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expensive marketing. So How can patients tell the difference?

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That's really the 64 bazillion dollar question. So he uses,

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this is coincidence. He uses. Dr Bredesen protocol treatment

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program as his example, too, and he says the good UCLA trained

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neurologist with legitimate credentials is he's referring to

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Dr Bredesen. He's had published peer reviewed research on

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Alzheimer's mechanisms. Focuses on root causes instead of just

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symptoms, and emphasizes lifestyle interventions with

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strong evidence the concerning charges up to $10,500 for the

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treatment packages promises to reverse Alzheimer's disease,

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which he says in parentheses, an extraordinary claim, relies

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heavily on testimonials and case studies, promotes expensive

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supplement regimes, and his framework for evaluating this

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health information is for everybody considering something

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like this, you always want to check their credentials. Is the

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author, a licensed physician in the relevant specialty? Do they

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have hospital or university affiliations? Have they

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published research in peer reviewed journals, and has that

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been recently and then look for conflicts of interest? Are they

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selling something expensive? Do they profit from recommending

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specific products, like supplements? Are they making

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claims that support their business model? And then he

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recommends evaluate the evidence that you uncover are claims

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based on large randomized trials or just case studies and

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testimonials have results been replicated by independent

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researchers, and then watch the language they use in their

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advertising or in talking to you. Real Science uses cautious

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language. In other words, couple of the examples he uses in

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quotes may help or quote unquote suggests marketing uses absolute

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languages like quote unquote reverses, quote unquote cures,

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quote unquote breakthrough. The bread is an example, according

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to Dr GOMI says his core principles are solid. They

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address sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress, social

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connection. And these interventions do have strong

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evidence for brain health, but paying 1000s of dollars for

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personalized protocols. That's a little harder to justify his

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advice to his patients, take the good, leave the expensive. Now

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he lists free evidence based dementia preventions, 150

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minutes of of weekly exercise, a Mediterranean style diet, seven

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to nine hours of quality sleep each night, social engagement,

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stress management. If you have hearing loss, wear your hearing

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aids. They'll make a huge difference in your risk of

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developing Alzheimer's disease. You don't He says you do not

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need expensive protocols to protect your brain. Red flags in

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health information when they make claims like this is

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something big pharma doesn't want you to know. This is one

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weird trick testimonials instead of actual, raw evidence based

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data, expensive, proprietary supplements, he includes in that

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list and claims that seem too good to be true, the bottom line

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be an informed skeptic, and that is why I wanted to bring this

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information to y'all today in this episode of the truth lies

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and Alzheimer's show, because it's only fair to all of you to

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be aware of this information so you can do your due diligence.

Lisa Skinner:

Yeah, so that is our two recently published articles

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about some of the claims that some of these companies are

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making. Can do for us and I. Think, really, what we want to

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take away from this is there is absolutely nothing out there

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that any scientist, medical professional, anybody knows as

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of this conversation, that can indeed reverse dementia, as far

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as the claims that it can slow down the progression of it.

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There's no known scientific evidence to that either, whether

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people start to feel better and maybe regain some of their

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sharpness, possibly, I don't know anybody personally, but

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just be aware and be informed. So that's what I have for you

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today on the truth lies and Alzheimer's show, I am Lisa

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Skinner, your host, and as always, I hope you have a happy

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and healthy rest of your week, and I look forward to everybody

Lisa Skinner:

coming back next week for some more fun filled information

Lisa Skinner:

about living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. So

Lisa Skinner:

take good care for now. Bye, bye.

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About the Podcast

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Truth, Lies & Alzheimer's

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About your host

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Lisa Skinner, CDP, CDT

Author Lisa Skinner is a behavioral specialist with expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. In her 30+year career working with family members and caregivers, Lisa has taught them how to successfully navigate the many challenges that accompany this heartbreaking disease. Lisa is both a Certified Dementia Practitioner and is also a certified dementia care trainer through the Alzheimer’s Association. She also holds a degree in Human Behavior.
Her latest book, “Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s – Its Secret Faces” continues Skinner’s quest of working with dementia-related illnesses and teaching families and caregivers how to better understand the daunting challenges of brain disease. Her #1 Best-seller book “Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost,” was written at their urging. As someone who has had eight family members diagnosed with dementia, Lisa Skinner has found her calling in helping others through the struggle they can have a better-quality relationship with their loved ones through education and offering workshops on counter-intuitive solutions and tools to help people effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. Lisa Skinner has appeared on many national and regional media broadcasts. Lisa helps explain behaviors caused by dementia, encourages those who feel burdened, and gives practical advice for how to respond.