Alzheimer's and Ketones

[Tellenbach]

I just finished Mary Newport's "Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was a Cure (The Story of Ketones)". Dr. Newport's a neonatal doctor whose husband, Steve, has early onset Alzheimer's Disease. His condition was "moderately severe" by the time she found a treatment that worked. Her journey started with an internet search and a press release of an Alzheimer's drug called Accera. The press release stated:

In people with Alzheimer's, scientists have detected a dramatic decrease in glucose use in certain brain areas that begins ten to twenty years before any visible symptoms appear. Deprived of their primary energy source, neurons suffer irreparable damage. The cause of decreased glucose metabolism remains uncertain.

Scientists at Accera have developed a compound called AC-1202 that provides these glucose-deprived neurons with an alternative energy source known as ketone bodies, which can be metabolized even when glucose cannot. Accera's hypothesis is that increased availability of ketone bodies will improve memory problems and other functional losses that occur in Alzheimer's.

By 2008, Steve's condition had deteriorated signifcantly. He lost the ability to run, read, whistle, to dress himself, and to draw a clock.

The clock drawing test is used to assess the severity of the illness. The first drawing looks nothing like a clock-- poor Steve.

Dr. Newport discovered that the active ingredient in AC-1202 was a medium chain fatty acid. She also recalled that medium chain fatty acids were converted to ketone bodies in the liver. The patent mentioned that medium chain triglycerides were isolated from coconut oil. That was the epiphany moment. Dr. Newport decided to give some coconut oil to Steve.

This is Steve's clock drawing 2 weeks into the coconut oil treatment:

Steve also regained the ability to run, to mow the lawn, and to tell jokes. Basically, the Alzheimer's was halted and Steve regained some abilities. There are lots more changes that are documented in her book but you can read about some of it in this article she wrote before the book:

What If There Was a Cure for Alzheimer's Disease... and No One Knew?

The fascinating thing I learned from the book is that the ratio of glucose to alternative fuel used by the brain changes dramatically as we age. In young people, the brain uses glucose to alternative fuel at a 100:1 ratio; in the elderly, the ratio drops to 29:1; in Alzheimer's patients, the ratio drops down to 2:1. Basically, the brains of Alzheimer's patients are starving for glucose or an alternative fuel and ketone bodies from the metabolism of coconut oil provides about 6 to 10% of additional fuel for the brain. That amount is enough to slow down and even halt the progression of the disease, at least in Steve.