New Biomarker in the Blood May Help Predict Alzheimer’s Disease

[Ted_Hutchinson]

New Biomarker in the Blood May Help Predict Alzheimer’s Disease
This new research is interesting as we've known for some time that the earliest signs of Alzheimer's can be detected up to 25yrs prior to diagnosis and it can lay dormant for most of that time.

This new research linking earlier onset to higher ceramide levels gives us the chance to see if lowering ceramides may delay onset.

MAGNESIUM deficiency INCREASES ceramide production.
There are lots of online calculators enabling you to check your diet at least meets the RDA for magnesium for your age/sex.

Magnesium absorption from food/water is less in vitamin D deficient people.
CityAssays Vitamin D Blood Spot test £25 enables you to check if 1000iu/daily/D3 per 25lbs weight raises your vit d3 status to 125nmol/l ~ 50ng/ml the level at which Vitamin D is most effective as an effective anti-inflammatory agent.

Ceramides are potent proinflammatory agents so people with higher vitamin D, magnesium, omega 3 and melatonin levels will be better able to deal with them.

If indeed it turns out to be the case that higher inflammatory ceramides are the driving force for Alzheimer's oneset then maintaining an effective reserve of natural anti inflammatory agents is simply common sense.

 

[Ted_Hutchinson]

The role of ceramides in selected brain pathologies: ischemia/hypoxia, Alzheimer disease.
Full text downloads as free pdf if after reading the abstract you click the link in the top corner.

Also implicated in diabetes initiation.

 

[Ted_Hutchinson]

'Fatty blood’ early warning sign of Alzheimer’s NHS CHOICES article on same paper.
I'll put my comment here as the chances are it will be banned from the NHS site. (I've had previous run in's with their moderators)

You say "it is still unclear how it could contribute to the development of methods to slow the progression of the condition. " but surely, if we know what causes or is associated with higher levels of ceramides, it may be possible to reduce ceramide levels.

For example we know "Short-term magnesium deficiency upregulates ceramide" and "de novo synthesis of ceramide is associated with magnesium deficiency". We also know 60% US adults (and probably a similar percent of UK adults) consume less magnesium than the RDA.
It would them make sense for people to check magnesium daily intake using an online magnesium calculator or nutritional databank and correct magnesium insufficiency status?
Surely no harm can come from ensuring people meet the current magnesium RDA recommendations. If correcting magensium insufficiency lowers ceramide levels it may also delay Alzheimer's onset. It shouldn't be too difficult to work out that if higher levels of inflammatory ceramides speed up Alzheimer's onset lower levels of inflammation may slow progression.

Ceramides are associated with inflammation.

One of the reasons magnesium deficiency may be implicated is that like Vitamin D3, Omega 3 and melatonin, magnesium helps our ability to resolve inflammation.

While it may be too early to say for certain that omega 3 DHA inhibits cytokine-induced inflammation and reduces ceramide formation there are grounds for saying it may be a smart bet.

@ 125nmol/l ~ 50ng/ml, Vitamin D3 works best as an anti-inflammatory agent, it probably does this via inhibition of ceramide enzymes. In the same way that correcting magnesium insufficiency is safe and cheap so maintaining 25(OH)D at the same level humans living naked outdoor lives achieve natural Vit d 3 equilibrium cannot be argued against on cost or safety grounds.

Ceramides are the new player in the insulin resistance-inflammation story so it makes sense, if we think fructose consumption raises ceramides, to consider ways diet could be less imflammatory while simultaneously improving our body's response to inflammation.

It may also make sense to consider what leads to the degradation of ceramides?
Adiponectin comes to mind first and it's fairly well known how we can raise adiponectin levels with resveratrol, curcumin, vitamin D3, dha, magnesium, melatonin.

 

[Ted_Hutchinson]

A Ceramide-Centric View of Insulin Resistance
For those who don't know much about ceramides here is a useful paper that explains several of the actions.

Here is another paper that provides a good summary.
Brain Insulin Resistance and Deficiency as Therapeutic Targets in Alzheimer's Disease Suzanne M de la Monte

 

[pinballdoctor]

I have no doubt that several factors contribute to Alzheimers, including vaccines, aluminum, mercury, chemicals, pesticides, contaminates, fungi, vitamin and mineral deficiency, and even perhaps inflammation markers such as ceramides, however, there is only one cause.

Lets look at some facts.

The brain contains a fatty substance called myelin. This material makes up about 75% of the brain, and this 75% is 100% cholesterol.

What happened in the last 40 years, in which Alzheimers went from being scarce (at best) to the epidemic that it is today?

The answer is statin drugs... statin drugs and doctors telling patients to avoid butter, lard, eggs, and seafood, especially shrimp because they are high in cholesterol... and cholesterol leads to blocked arteries and that causes strokes and heart attacks...

These doctors did not realize that cholesterol was not the problem, but was only a symptom of a vitamin/mineral deficiency, which was in this case a vitamin C deficiency.

Without adequate vitamin C, (and other nutrients such as copper) the artery walls become weak and begin to crack. Your body realizes this, and sends cholesterol to the rescue, temporarily patching over these cracks, and thus preventing you from bleeding to death internally.

Instead of the doctor suggesting proper nutrients in optimal amounts, he prescribes crestor or some other statin to prevent your liver from making cholesterol... do you see the irony in this?

Alzheimers' is a doctor-caused disease, just like vitamin D deficiency is a doctor-caused "epidemic", only now they are beginning to realize that vitamin D is good, and we should supplement with a small amount.

Most doctors still insist on avoiding the sun and/or wearing sunblock, so they really haven't learned anything in the last 25 years.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/33614.php

Dr. George Bartzokis, a professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, concludes:

Myelin is a sheet of lipid, or fat, with very high cholesterol content -- the highest of any brain tissue. The high cholesterol content allows myelin to wrap tightly around axons, speeding messages through the brain by insulating these neural "wire" connections.

Bartzokis' analysis of magnetic resonance images and post-mortem tissue data suggests that the production of myelin is a key component of brain development through childhood and well into middle age, when development peaks and deterioration begins (Neurobiology of Aging, January 2004). He also identifies the midlife breakdown of myelin as a key to onset of Alzheimer's disease later in life (Archives of Neurology, March 2003; Neurobiology of Aging, August 2004).

"This model of a lifelong trajectory of brain development and degeneration embraces the human brain as a high-speed Internet rather than a computer," Bartzokis said. "The speed, quality, and bandwidth of the connections determine the brain's ability to process information, and all these depend in large part on the insulation that coats the brain's connecting wires."

 

[Ted_Hutchinson]

If you look at the "medical food" that is being touted for Alzheimer's Souvenaid we see it's

choline, uridine and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA. Choline can be found in meats, nuts and eggs, and omega-3 fatty acids are found in a variety of sources, including fish, eggs, flaxseed and meat from grass-fed animals. Uridine is produced by the liver and kidney,

In fact the best source of choline is liver and egg yolk so basically this medical food for Alzheimer's is doing the very opposite of Statins, which is probably why it is effective.

 

[pinballdoctor]

If you look at the "medical food" that is being touted for Alzheimer's Souvenaid we see it's
In fact the best source of choline is liver and egg yolk so basically this medical food for Alzheimer's is doing the very opposite of Statins, which is probably why it is effective.

I would definitely include coconut oil and avocado oil in that medical food.

I would also include Glycerophosphorylcholine at 500 mg per day.

This "medical food" is a step in the right direction, however, wouldn't it be better to prevent Alzheimers' in the first place?

As long as statin drug sales continue to soar, so will Alzheimers', Diabetes, MS, and countless other diseases.

The drug companies want to put statin drugs in our water supply, in much the same way as they add fluoride. Can you imagine the outcome of that?

Wait a minute, that is already happening... drugs in the water supply... all kinds of drugs...chemo drugs, statin drugs, diabetes drugs, blood pressure drugs... and we wonder why there is an epidemic of Diabetes and Alzheimers..

 

[Donee]

Cholesterol--bad guy, or tool?

Clearly, if the government could just get us all to die at around 65 years
of age they would have maximized their take and minimized their losses.
Demonizing cholesterol could be an excellent strategy.

Paleo plus AA & NO to the rescue LOL