The Arrow #258 Keto and Alzheimer's

Greetings all. I’ve been working on a post to go out today, then I read this article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago, though I just read it today. It’s sad and infuriating in a way, and it just won’t let me alone.

Here is how it starts:

Karen didn’t have a slowly progressive version of Alzheimer’s disease; She had the full blown dose.

By any measure, this is a terrible situation. And it’s no cake walk for Karen’s husband, who is her caregiver.

I debated long and hard about showing the picture of Karen below. You can see that one and more if you click the link above and open the article.

I am certainly not trying to fat shame Karen in any way, but, with most people, obesity comes at a price. Sometimes a great price.

It’s obvious from the photo above and others in the article that Karen has upper body obesity, the worst kind in terms of health risk. She probably has elevated glucose, impaired insulin signaling, widespread mitochondrial damage, and doubtless a host of other issues. I don’t know what kind of diet Karen has been following, but I suspect it’s the same one she was following before she came down with Alzheimer’s.

I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if Karen could lose a substantial amount of weight, she would do better. She might not get rid of her Alzheimer’s, but might at least temper it. I know she would feel better, and I’m sure her husband would have an easier time caring for her.

There aren’t a lot of studies looking at ketogenic diets as treatments for Alzheimer’s, but there are a few. And there is a lot of anecdotal data showing improvement in the disorder.

A year or so ago, I watched a 3+ hour interview of Chris Palmer on the Andrew Huberman’s show. Chris is a psychiatrist at Harvard, and he stumbled onto the ketogenic diet. He’s found that it works brilliantly for many serious brain disorders: bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, paranoia, and the like. The talk turned to Alzheimer’s, and here’s what he had to say.

I’ve cued it to 02:10:16. Sometimes this platform takes you right there, and other times it starts at the start. If it starts at the start, just scroll forward to 02:10:16. (I would encourage you to watch the entire three hour video, especially if you have any interest or any family members with brain disorders.)

Basically, the crux of the matter was revealed when Huberman asked why there were not more studies since the small ones out there and the anecdotal data showed promise. Dr. Palmer’s answer floored me. He said that researchers at Johns Hopkins decided to do a large randomized controlled trial to see if the ketogenic diet bested a control diet in the improvement of cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients.

The researchers interviewed 1,300+ subjects interested in being a part of the study. In the end, only 27 people signed up to participate. And only 14 completed the study. But those who did complete the study had improvement in cognition.

The problem was that given that data—even though those who did the program improved—the funders for a larger study basically said, What’s the point. Even it it works, people aren’t interested in doing it. So we would be wasting our money on the study.

I would have been shocked when I heard that, but I had already encountered a similar situation I posted about on my blog almost 20 years ago.

Researchers initiated a small pilot study in which terminal cancer patients were recruited to try a ketogenic diet. These weren’t just cancer patients grabbed at random. The folks had been through chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery. They were on their last legs and basically sent home or to hospice to die.

A small group of these patients took to the ketogenic diet, and their results were pretty spectacular. According to the report:

What about the others? The ones who didn’t stick to the keto diet?

I find this to be absolutely mind boggling. It’s difficult for me to come to grips with the fact that people would prefer carbs to better health, or, in this case, even life.

I would think the man who is the caretaker of the lady who kicked off this post today would jump at the chance for better days for his wife by starting her on a ketogenic diet. But based on these other studies, perhaps not.

It just seems insane to me that it isn’t offered. Maybe not enough Alzheimer’s caregivers know about it; I don’t know.

But what I do know is the Wall Street Journal article broke my heart.

That’s about it for this week. Keep in good cheer, and I’ll be back soon.

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