The Dr. Hyman Show

How To Reverse Or Reduce Your Risk Of Alzheimer’s And Dementia

May 13, 2022

In a captivating discussion, Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, a leading authority on Alzheimer’s, Dr. Richard Isaacson, head of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, and Dr. Jay Lombard, a pioneer in neuroimmunology, delve into groundbreaking strategies for combating cognitive decline. They explore the influence of genetics on brain health, the significance of lifestyle changes, and the potential of dietary choices like the Mediterranean diet. Emerging studies, such as the Finger Study, reveal hope in preventive care, challenging the norms of traditional treatments and emphasizing a holistic approach to brain health.

01:03:33

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Episode guests

Jay Lombard

Richard Isaacson

Marwan Sabbagh

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Quick takeaways

Lifestyle interventions, such as exercise, diet, stress reduction, and sleep, play a crucial role in protecting the brain and reducing cognitive decline.

Personalized approaches to managing and preventing Alzheimer's disease are essential, considering individual risk factors and addressing specific needs through evidence-based interventions.

Alzheimer's disease should be viewed as a systemic disease that affects the brain, highlighting the importance of whole-body health, including factors like inflammation, insulin resistance, and the gut microbiome.

Deep dives

Lifestyle interventions can prevent and even reverse cognitive decline

Several conversations in the podcast highlight the importance of lifestyle interventions for protecting the brain and reducing the risk of cognitive decline. The podcast discusses the role of exercise, diet, stress reduction, and sleep in improving brain health. Specifically, the Finger Study, a large study on lifestyle interventions, showed that individuals who followed a comprehensive intervention including diet changes, exercise, stress management, and improved health conditions experienced better brain health outcomes. These findings challenge the conventional wisdom that brain health is solely determined by genetics and offer hope that modifiable factors can have a significant impact on brain health.

Intro

3min

Proactive Approaches to Preventing Neurodegenerative Diseases

2min

Revolutionizing Cognitive Health: Insights from the Finger Study

3min

Understanding Alzheimer's: A Multidimensional Approach

14min

Nourishing the Mind: Dietary Strategies Against Alzheimer's

25min

Innovative Approaches to ALS Treatment

2min

Revolutionizing Neurotherapies: Heat and its Therapeutic Potential

10min

Hopeful Reflections on Neurology and Health Support

2min

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens and ButcherBox.

For so long, we’ve been told that memory loss and dementia are just normal parts of aging.

We now know it doesn’t have to be that way, and that there are many measures we can proactively take to avoid cognitive decline as we age. Emerging research is helping us look at new ways to treat and even prevent devastating neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia, giving people a newfound sense of hope.

In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, Dr. Richard Isaacson, and Dr. Jay Lombard about the role of genetics in brain disorders, lifestyle habits you can start right now to reduce your risk or reverse symptoms, and why we need to look at bacteria as a cause of neurodegenerative disease.

Dr. Marwan Sabbagh is a board-certified neurologist and considered one of the leading experts in Alzheimer’s and dementia. He is on the editorial board for the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and BMC Neurology and is now Editor-in-Chief of Neurology and Therapy. Dr. Sabbagh is the author of The Alzheimer’s Answer: Reduce Your Risk and Keep Your Brain Healthy and The Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook: 100 Recipes to Boost Brain Health. His latest book, Fighting for My Life: How to Thrive in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s, is now available.

Dr. Richard Isaacson serves as Director of the Center for Brain Health and Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic (APC) at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine. He previously served as Director of the APC at the Weill Cornell Memory Disorders Program, Assistant Dean of Faculty Development, and Associate Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian. He remains as Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology in the Department of Neurology at Weill Cornell.

Dr. Jay Lombard is an internationally acclaimed neurologist, author, and keynote speaker specializing in neuroimmunological conditions and medical mysteries. Dr. Lombard integrates biological, psychological, and existential components in his holistic treatment approach. Dr. Lombard’s clinical experience revealed an interesting pattern: one patient with ALS also had small-intestine bacterial overgrowth, another had ulcerative colitis, yet another had Crohn’s, and so on. He started seeing the connections between these bacterial imbalances and Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, and the link to neurological symptoms.

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens and ButcherBox.

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Full-length episodes of these interviews can be found here:

Dr. Marwan Sabbagh

Dr. Richard Isaacson

Dr. Jay Lombard