New alzheimer's research

[BeckyFL]

Did anyone catch this on Dr. Oz? Since my mom had alzheimer's, it was especially interesting for me. Nitrates are implicated. The scary thing is, if this is the cause, there will be so many with this in the future. On the other hand, if there is something we can do to avoid such a horrible disease, it's wonderful to know what that is.

 

http://helenpapas.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/root-cause-of-alzheimers-parkinsons-and-diabetes/

[Parrothead]

I found that very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

[justamouse]

Ohh yes we watched that one. I was so happy I caught the adverts for it so I could makes sure we did, because that one is very important to our family.

 

Though, Dh had just read the articles on it at work, it was interesting to hear it broken down.

 

And the blog post you noted-I had NO idea the nitrates were in ground meat.

 

My one question on this--what is the rate of Alz in places like Italy?

Edited April 12, 2011 by justamouse

[BeckyFL]

Ohh yes we watched that one. I was so happy I caught the adverts for it so I could makes sure we did, because that one is very important to our family.

 

Though, Dh had just read the articles on it at work, it was interesting to hear it broken down.

 

And the blog post you noted-I had NO idea the nitrates were in ground meat.

 

My one question on this--what is the rate of Alz in places like Italy?

 

I'm confused about the ground meat. They're saying they are only there if they are grilled or fried over high heat? I really thought that nitrates were only in processed meats... not my local grassfed I would hope.

[Alicia64]

so, is it fair to hope that vegetarians are somewhat okay?

 

I'll admit: I eat plenty of white. . . pizza crust, pasta and, yes, cheese.

 

We have a ton of Alzheimer in my family. :confused:

 

Alley

[justamouse]

I'm confused about the ground meat. They're saying they are only there if they are grilled or fried over high heat? I really thought that nitrates were only in processed meats... not my local grassfed I would hope.

 

I think it's what keeps the meats *red* in the food stores.

 

 

so, is it fair to hope that vegetarians are somewhat okay?

 

I'll admit: I eat plenty of white. . . pizza crust, pasta and, yes, cheese.

 

We have a ton of Alzheimer in my family. :confused:

 

Alley

 

I don't know, Alley, but I know how you feel. Dh and I are sitting down this week and going over the, again. We eat well, but now it's time to take the next step.

[Perry]

Did anyone catch this on Dr. Oz? Since my mom had alzheimer's, it was especially interesting for me. Nitrates are implicated. The scary thing is, if this is the cause, there will be so many with this in the future. On the other hand, if there is something we can do to avoid such a horrible disease, it's wonderful to know what that is.

 

http://helenpapas.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/root-cause-of-alzheimers-parkinsons-and-diabetes/

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. The article that this information comes from is based on a very flawed study. The original study isn't available online, but a synopsis is here. I'll comment on a few of the most important points, related to the comments I have bolded below.

Nitrates May Be Environmental Trigger For Alzheimer’s, Diabetes And Parkinson's Disease

 

ScienceDaily (July 6, 2009) — A new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have found a substantial link between increased levels of nitrates in our environment and food with increased deaths from diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's. The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

 

 

Led by Suzanne de la Monte, MD, MPH, of Rhode Island Hospital, researchers studied the trends in mortality rates due to diseases that are associated with aging, such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and cerebrovascular disease, as well as HIV. They found strong parallels between age adjusted increases in death rate from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes and the progressive increases in human exposure to nitrates, nitrites and nitrosamines through processed and preserved foods as well as fertilizers. Other diseases including HIV-AIDS, cerebrovascular disease, and leukemia did not exhibit those trends. De la Monte and the authors propose that the increase in exposure plays a critical role in the cause, development and effects of the pandemic of these insulin-resistant diseases.

...De la Monte comments, "All of these diseases are associated with increased insulin resistance and DNA damage. Their prevalence rates have all increased radically over the past several decades and show no sign of plateau. Because there has been a relatively short time interval associated with the dramatic shift in disease incidence and prevalence rates, we believe this is due to exposure-related rather than genetic etiologies."

 

 

The researchers recognize that an increase in death rates is anticipated in higher age groups. Yet when the researchers compared mortality from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease among 75 to 84 year olds from 1968 to 2005, the death rates increased much more dramatically than for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease, which are also aging-associated. For example, in Alzheimer's patients, the death rate increased 150-fold, from 0 deaths to more than 150 deaths per 100,000. Parkinson's disease death rates also increased across all age groups. However, mortality rates from cerebrovascular disease in the same age group declined, even though this is a disease associated with aging as well.

 

The authors state that the time course of the increased prevalence rates of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes cannot be explained on the basis of gene mutations.

 

1. They compared death rates of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's (diseases that have no cure and very little effective treatments) to HIV, CVA, and leukemia- all disease that have had dramatic improvements in outcome over the last few decades. They did NOT compare the incidence rate (number of NEW cases) and if they had their results would have been quite different.

 

2. There has been a major change in how Alzheimer's is diagnosed in the last 35 years.

"For example, in Alzheimer's patients, the death rate increased 150-fold, from 0 deaths to more than 150 deaths per 100,000."

Really, that should be a tip off. Does anyone believe that prior to 1975, there were no deaths due to Alzheimer's? Of course there were, but they called it senile dementia! If you included those cases, the numbers haven't gone up all that much. They changed the NAME of the condition. The condition was always there.

 

3. They correctly state that the death rate has increased. That's true, but it's because people are living longer, and surviving other conditions that previously would have killed them. So the *prevalence* (number of cases at one point in time) is higher, but the *incidence* (number of new cases in a given period of time, usually per year), has only increased a little bit.

 

There's a visual below for Parkinson's ( I couldn't find a good graph for Alzheimer's but it's similar). Sorry, I can't figure out how to shrink it. The two top lines are prevalence. As people get older, cases accumulate, and the number rises. The bottom lines are incidence, or the number of new cases diagnosed each year. From one year to the next, it doesn't vary all that much.

 

4. All they've done is shown that death rates from these diseases have gone up coincidentally as the use of nitrates have increased. I would like to suggest some alternate theories. There is a correlation between the increase in death rates from Alzheimer's and the increase in the number of homeschoolers. Or the number of Target stores. Or military funding.

 

You have to have more than a temporal correlation. Otherwise it's nothing more than speculation.

 

I'm not saying nitrates don't cause illness. They have been convincingly associated with cancer, and should probably be avoided.

Edited April 14, 2011 by Perry
Graph too big. Moved to new post

[Perry]

Here's the graph.

[Alicia64]

I've always said, "Perry for President!!!

 

Thanks for this great info., Perry, you're always the voice of reason.

 

Alley

[BeckyFL]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. The article that this information comes from is based on a very flawed study. The original study isn't available online, but a synopsis is here.

 

Perry, thanks for that great info. The researcher also stated that they have found it to be a 3rd type of diabetes, one that affects the brain. Any comments on that portion of the research?

[cin]

so, is it fair to hope that vegetarians are somewhat okay?

 

I'll admit: I eat plenty of white. . . pizza crust, pasta and, yes, cheese.

 

We have a ton of Alzheimer in my family. :confused:

 

Alley

 

My MIL has some alzheimer's and some other type of dementia. And she was pretty vegan. Grilled chicken breast was the only meat she ate. An occasional hotdog. And she grew up on a farm, so I doubt she had many nitrates there.

 

While I do think there are links to these things, I also had a grandmother who was 4'10" and weighed 200+lbs. And lived to be 97; she finally died of old age and grief. On the flip side, she buried 3 of her 5 kids. Go Figure.