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MARCH 2020 TABLEHOPPING

No one wants to really talk about it but the biggest healthcare issue in America today is dementia. Sure cancer is a terrible thing but many people are cured of cancer. Dementia, at least today, is relentlessly progressive and besides profoundly affecting the patient it has a massive effect on the caregivers as well. Just as everyone knows someone with cancer likewise everyone know someone with dementia. Unfortunately, the currently available treatments for dementia are very limited. The toll on caregivers is massive. Dr. Dale Breseden proposes a treatment plan that includes addressing your diet, your exercise,your sleep and your stress as well as removing toxins and some supplements. In his book the End of Alzheimer’s, he documents multiple cases of people that were dramatically improved in memory and whose brain scans actually show regrowth of brain. A 2 year study in Finland called the Finger study demonstrated a significant beneficial intervention effect on overall cognitive performance was seen in a group of people who receive dietary guidance for physical activity cognitive training and intensive monitoring and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors.

So dementia is not inevitable and you can have a significant impact on your risk of dementia and your degree of dementia based on your lifestyle. As you know from my prior writings many people consider dementia a type of diabetes, so called diabetes type 3. This is one more reason to go to your doctor and ask for a fasting insulin level and a measurement of insulin resistance. Ask your doctor for a fasting insulin test and a HOMA score which is a way of measuring insulin resistance.. Your doctor is likely to say that your sugars have been fine so there is no need to measure insulin but you must remind them that sugars will be normal for years as insulin rises and the only way to know this is to measure insulin and if they are going to measure your insulin you might as well do a thorough test by checking the sugar at the same time and learn about your insulin resistance. I believe, after 33 years in medicine, that Dr Breseden is right in that diet plays a crucial role in preventing dementia. Minimizing sugar in all of its forms and maximizing basic simple whole foods I think is your best defense against this mental scourge.

Do you remember where you your car keys? Did you forget where the car is in the parking lot? Do you ever go down into the basement and wonder what you went down looking for? Is at the beginning of dementia or is it just benign forgetfulness of being older? Do you cover up for your loved one in the doctor’s office when they started asking memory questions? Is your doctor or even testing your memory? If you’re in Medicare you are supposed to have a memory test at your annual wellness visit. This is happening?

Well, if you worry about memory loss you do not have to rely in your doctor. Everyone and anyone who has an interest in dementia, who worries about dementia, who has a loved one with memory loss now has access to testing and treatment regardless of the ability to pay. There is a company called Clarity Clinical Research which is located at 6700 Kirkville Rd., Suite 107 East Syracuse New York. The phone number is 315-706-5905. You do not need a referral from your doctor. You do not need a referral from your neurologist. All you need to do is call this number to have yourself tested or your loved one tested. They will establish a baseline and if it is appropriate, offer you the option of being enrolled in a clinical trial. Given that the currently available medicines for dementia do not have a real impact on the disease, having a trial available is possibly a game changer for you and your loved one. . I understand from my conversations with the experts at this facility that it does not matter whether you have a little memory loss or whether you have advanced dementia they will evaluate you and try and find a trial for you. Clinical trials are the way medicine advances. Clinical trials are not new to Central New York . Many people that get chemotherapy are involved in clinical trials.. The testing and treatment available at Clarity Clinical Research are simply not available anywhere else in the area. They have access to scans that are not available outside of research settings. Again, all testing and treatment including the scans etc are free. No charge whatsoever whether you have insurance or not. Furthermore you don’t need approval from your insurance company or medical provider to get tested and treated. So if you really worry about your memory or your loved ones memory you are a phone call away from the most thorough and aggressive testing available anywhere. Of course,I urge you to improve your lifestyle as the primary approach to prevent memory loss and that’s outlined in books like Dr Breseden or Dr Perlmutter’s book Grain Brain. Naturally , I suggest you do both…investigate the lifestyle changes and avail yourself of the most advanced testing and treatment available by calling Clarity Clinical Research. Call today before you forget about it !