Why the Diagnosis of Dementia Doesn’t Mean Anything

The future of medicine — now

Are you on a journey for better brain health?

Maybe you haven’t thought of it that way, but if you ever had thoughts about brain fog, forgetting things, dementia and Alzheimer's then your brain is on your mind.

Conventional medicine gives us little hope when we start the cognitive decline. Seems the best they can do is offer medicine that may help some — and may also produce side effects.

In the functional medicine world — there is help, and it starts way before you begin to forget.

In fact, according to Dr George Papanicolaou at The Ultrawellness Center, which is a functional medicine facility, “Science is showing us that you can begin the process of developing Alzheimer’s dementia 20 to 30 years before you wake up one morning, forgetting your wife’s name.”

As Dr Papanicolaou continues, “The earlier you catch neurodegenerative conditions, the better.”

Why? Not to start medicating, but to start adjusting your diet and lifestyle.

This information comes from The Longevity Roadmap created by Mark Hyman, M.D. — someone I have referenced in my articles numerous times.

Dr Hyman actually made a bold statement — something I found fascinating.

He shared, and I quote from the transcript, “There’s a great article that I read years ago, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, called Shifting Thinking in Dementia. And it’s had an interesting line in there, which says, “We have categorical misclassification with etiologic imprecision.” And what that means is we say someone has memory loss and the reason for the memory loss is they have dementia…

…That’s categorical misclassification. Saying they have dementia doesn’t mean anything. It’s just the name that we give to people who have memory loss, which is stupid because it doesn’t tell you anything about why.”

We don’t look at the cause of conventional medicine.

Dr Hyman continues, “There’s no such thing as dementia, there are ‘dementias’, and everybody’s different, and we have to treat each person differently. That is going to be the future of medicine.”

“Dementagens are things that cause dementia, and we know so much about what damages our brain. They’re brain-damaging things. And there are some things that are obvious and some things not so obvious.”

Here is what Dr Hyman shares as ‘dementagens’ that damage the brain and how it functions:

1. Diet- having an inflammatory diet that consists of processed foods, sugar and starch. And certain foods like gluten and dairy are allergens.

2. Lack of sleep — sleep cleans your brain. A recently discovered system, the glymphatic system (like the lymph system of the brain) is active at night, so sleep is critical.

3. Stress — when cortisol levels are high, it shrinks the brain. In particular the hippocampus. And that’s the part of the brain that shrinks with dementia.

4. Environmental toxins — heavy metals, mercury and lead. Mercury is one of the most undiagnosed health risks that we have and it’s almost never tested or treated. The conventional doctors are just not trained.

5. Lack of relationships, lack of social connections, lack of meaning and purpose. Without these our brain declines. They aren’t just psychological or emotional. They have a biological impact on the function of our brain as well as every other part of our bodies.

The above list is all things that we have control over.

And here’s another. Dr Hyman shared that exercise is one of the best ways to activate BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which is like Miracle Grow for your brain.

And for those who say “I don’t want to know if I have the Alzheimer’s gene because there’s nothing you can do about it.” Nonsense. We know now, from rigorous research, that aggressive lifestyle interventions, personalization and optimization of certain nutrients can actually slow and even reverse the course of dementia.” states Dr Hyman.

Also Lyme disease and mould exposure damage the brain but are treatable.

Dr Hyman shared how the actor Kris Kristofferson was diagnosed with dementia but it turns out that he had Lyme disease! Once he was given intravenous antibiotics, his ‘dementia’ was gone.

Dr Hyman shared that he has seen many patients like this.

It’s time to look and dig deep. Doctors need to be medical detectives so they can figure out what are the ‘dementagens’ for each person. And once discovered, how to get rid of them. And then bring in things that are reparative.

This information is exciting to me as I continue to share how we can have control, especially in these uncertain times. And how this brings in more peace, as you realize that the power to make changes is within you.

Our genes are not our destiny.

We have more power and control over our health than we have been led to believe.

Knowledge is power…

And if what I shared resonates with you, please let me introduce myself:

Please join me on Facebook, for Minutes With Michele where I do a Monday evening Live based on my published articles. Replays are available.

You can also find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, My Website.

And I encourage you to read the work of my fabulous writer friends: Trista Ainsworth, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Amy Marley, Aurora Eliam, CMP, Kathryn A. LeRoy, PhD, Desiree Driesenaar, Selma, Keno Ogbo, Melissa Bee, Dipti Pande, Francine Fallara, Sandra Szubert, Erin King, Karen Madej, Ann K Frailey, Sumera Rizwan, MaryJo Wagner, PhD, Britni Pepper, Chowa Sekai, Ksenia Sein, Alison Tennent, Livia Dabs, Neha Sandhir S, Lanu Pitan, Sherry S, Agnes Louis, Chris Hedges, Paul Myers MBA, P.G. Barnett, Terry Mansfield, Rasheed Hooda, Henery X (long), Timothy Key, Tim Maudlin, Bob Jasper, John Ross, Joe Luca, JeffHerring.com, Indra Raj Pathak

Always celebrating, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Founder & Leader of ILLUMINATION

Until next time ~

Sending you light, love — help for our brains.

Be Well,