I am hoping and wishing that this medication will be widely available and effective. My cousin, who is about 65 years of age, has early-onset Alzheimer's and it has caused lots of distress within the family. Her mother, who will turn 90 in October and who is as sharp as a tack, is especially upset by my cousin's new reality.

I don't know what medication they're referring to in the article, which reads:

The treatment - called metabolic enhancement for neurodegeneration, or MEND - is based on 36 different factors, including changes in diet, exercise, and sleeping habits, plus the integration of certain drugs, vitamins, and brain stimulation therapy to their regular routine.

Stacey, perhaps your cousin could be helped by implementing the lifestyle changes. Here are the details on the original UCLA study I read about. They used some supplements, including melatonin, but no drugs that I'm aware of. The case histories are fascinating.

Details on the original study

Unfortunately MEND is personalized and so there is no generic, one-size-fits-all formula that can be followed.

If they're advocating a healthy lifestyle, with lots of exercise, healthy eating, brain challenging hobbies, etc, then my mom wouldn't have Alzheimers and she does.

I wouldn't be surprised if in many cases Alzheimer's forges on no matter what. But did you read the details, Blfenton? They used some very specific supplements, among other things. I tried to paste their table into this post, but it all ran together.

Yes, I did. But it is still patient specific.

Here is a synopsis of some of the ideas behind the MEND protocols

reversing or preventing Alzheimers - MEND protocols

Interesting.We have dementia in female members of the family. I'm not sure the difference between dementia and Alzheimers. All the women always knew who we were but suffered memory problems , mostly short term. I didn't realize I might be helping myself by my mostly plant based diet, my vitamin regime, and my OCD about getting my Fitbit to 14,000 steps a day.

As far as I know Alzheimers can not be diagnosed without an Autopsy. There are a lot of types of dementia. My Mother died with Neurovascular Dementia and it annoyed the heck out of me that some of my siblings said she had Alzheimer disease. She did not....She had another issue that needs to be addressed. .....Off my soapbox. All these are serious issues/diseases.....and I hope I don't suffer any of them

Yes, dementia is the broader term. Alzheimer's is one form of dementia. My husband had non-Alzheimer's dementia.

There is also scientific proof that the ketogenic diet helps reverse a lot of symptoms from people who suffer from this and dementia. And removing statins from your list of prescription medication also helps.

Alzheimers is one of those diagnoses that is given when all other medical tests have been done and nothing is definitively found (eg TIA's) and yet there is definite signs of noticeable cognitive impairment. Then to assess the extent of the cognitive impairment the MoCa or MMSE tests which measure short-term and long-term memory (my mom doesn't remember what a lion looks like), fine motor skills, reasoning skills, etc is given and scored.

lily - That's the thing, lead a healthy lifestyle and you (the generic you) help yourself in so many ways to head off so many diseases. Cr#p still happens as in the case of my mom.

I feel for all those people and their families who are going through this. It isn't a journey that is travelled alone and unfortunately we all know the outcome.

My cousin with early-onset Alzheimer's is in a care facility now and, according to my aunt, her children and the care facility are trying to help her recover, if such a thing is possible in her situation. I am "out of the loop" on what methods are being tried but hope to find out what is effective in her case, if anything.

OT - Lily, I am interested to see that you are up to 14,000 steps a day on your Fitbit. I have recently increased to 12,000 and find that I somehow manage to fit it all in and actually enjoy the walking. It has helped me to lose about 35 pounds since September.

My father is 94 and is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. He has been on medication since December and has drastically improved. He is more alert and can insert appropriate quips into the conversation. I was amazed when we saw him on Father's Day. Lily, 14,000 steps is amazing. It has been so hot here, I tried going to the mall to walk, but that gets boring.

blfenton, Thank you for explaining that so well. My own Mother had suffered from TIA's which went unnoticed until she had more then 70. They often have a quick recovery but with age and happening many times they add up. When she died she had over 200.

I hope medication/protocols can help anyone with Alzheimer's or dementia.

Generally good information here. I worked in a 200+ bed nursing home for several years. More than half of the long-term resident had a diagnosis of dementia (of one kind or another) on their chart.

For anyone who needs it, there are many Dementia Support Groups out there. Know that others are in a similar situation and having the opportunity to speak with those folks makes the process easier to accept.

If you have a loved one with dementia, look for resources in your community. You don't need to be alone on this!

I just took my mom to her own support group which the Alzheimers Society runs with a facilitator for those who have the diagnosis. She goes every other Wednesday and it is only for the patients and not the caregivers. I went to one 4-week seminar for the families which was quite good but haven't felt the need to go to a support group.

The Alzheimers Society in my community is a really supportive, caring group of people.

A little off topic , but regarding the Fitbit. I have not made it to 15,000, and today was my worse day since I got it, because of my pet problem, sitting at the vet all afternoon, and not walking Wally the usual three miles. I did hit the gym though, so always get that in. So I got over 10,000. (Don't you like it when the little vibration tells you?) It's really OCD, because sometimes the gym is at really weird times making dinner late. You can only do so much, but healthy eating , plenty of exercise and 7 or 8 hours of sleep is what doctors recommend. But cr@p still does happen anyway.

Besides Alzheimer's dementia, another type that one can observe is Lewy Body Dementia. The symptoms are different and the progression of the disease is different. There is a group of folks who have a web site:

Lewy Body Dementia Association

Lewy Body is a horrendous disease.