Detect and prevent Alzheimer’s disease before memory loss | Bernard Hanseeuw | TEDxUCLouvain

After 65 years old, one out of ten have Alzheimer’s disease…
Even worse, one out of three have the hallmark brain lesions of Alzheimer’s. Worrisome? Indeed. However, having lesions ten to twenty years before symptom onset is a wonderful opportunity for who wants to detect this terrible affection. From 2013, the hallmark pathologies of Alzheimer’s can be detected using a PET-scan. New research avenues are thus opening, and with them, the hope of developing preventive therapies.

Dr. Bernard Hanseeuw graduated as a Medical Doctor at UCLouvain in 2007. Four years later, he defended a PhD thesis on brain imaging in early Alzheimer’s detection. After his residency in Neurology, he left for Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School to train in molecular PET imaging of amyloid and tau proteins. Bernard Hanseeuw conducts research in Boston and Brussels; he aims at better understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to Alzheimer’s pathology in older adults, to guide clinical trials to success.

[wendycrawford]

I am a personal support worker. I am now retired but for twenty years, l provided respite care for families whose loved ones had Alzheimer’s disease or some form of dementia. After spending time with a client, l could tell if they had Alzheimers specifically. Some people have memory loss due to strokes, tumours, acquired brain injury and there are others. I spent time with clients who were university educated or not, people who sought out and thrived on intellectual stimulation, or didn’t, people who ate lots of sugar or didn’t, people who maintained very healthy diets and exercised regularly and those who didn’t, people who read voraciously, socialized frequently and those who didn’t, people who were overweight and those who were slim and fit, people who smoked and those who didn’t. I can honestly say that l have not, after all these years seen any standout co- relation between those who are seen as predisposed to Alzheimers and those who are not. Believe me, I’ve given this plenty of thought. We( mostly) know that it’s best to be mentally stimulated, to exercise regularly, to follow a healthy diet( Mediterranean) for example, to avoid alcohol, drugs, fats and sugars, to remain active and social, to get proper sleep, to try to reduce stress. I know people who were fit and active and extremely bright. They got Alzheimers. I’m fully aware that it’s in a person’s best interest to maintain a very healthy lifestyle. I’ve never actually seen stats showing the co-relation between heathy or unhealthy individuals and Alzheimers. I’m sure there is a plethora of stats. I’ve always read that your chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease are lesser if you are mentally and physically fit. This may very well be the case. I’m just not seeing it in all my years of spending endless hours ( years) with my Alzheimers clients/friends. I also question these remarkable ‘cures’ that l read about. I just watched a Ted Talk last week about the amazing improvements in the husband who had Alzheimers when his wife who was a Dr. who specialized in neonatal research l believe, started having him ingest coconut oil.( 7 teaspoons a day). She claimed that he basically was back to normal! I’ve heard about this coconut thing before, and I’ll hear about it again. This highly intelligent woman was giving a Ted Talk on the curing effects of coconut oil in the treatment of Alzheimers. This was combined with MCT oil. The Dr’s name is Mary T Newport. If this, amongst other highly recommended cures, why oh why are we not hearing about this miracle treatment world wide. My sister was, half a year ago, diagnosed with Alzheimers. Brain scan images showed damaged ares of her brain. Is there a single soul who doesn’t think l want the best for my sister? I will tell her about what I’ve heard. Do l want her to watch Dr. Newport’s Ted Talk? No, l don’t. Simply because l don’t want to give her false hope. She is my beautiful, youthful, athletic, former nurse, sister. Her brain is damaged. She will deteriorate and die. She is 68. She is very depressed. She is skin and bones. She has an excellent Dr.whom she likes and respects. She takes an anti depressant. Our family thinks about the tremendous amount of stress she has had in her life and wonder- could this be a factor. I wish 7 tablespoons of coconut oil and MCT, could cure her like Dr. Newport claims cured her husband. I will tell her and her husband about it but l don’t have my hopes up. Why? As l said earlier, if this was a true cure, billions of people would be doing it at the recommendation of their physicians.

[MispelledOnPurpose]

I've noticed that alzheimers is usually described as memory loss, but the one I know who died from it had the whole body eventually shut down from it. Their brain slowly forgot to operate the rest of their body, first memory, then speech, ability to walk, eat, then no swallowing, etc.

[micaonyx]

I wonder how much sugar plays in the development of dementia. My brother died last year at 67 from dementia. My cousin now 55 developed dementia in his mid to late 40s. They both craved sugar beyond logic. Two of my friends mom have dementia and they want cookies, cakes, anything sweet over healthy food. I notice whenever my potassium is low my sugar cravings is insane. I wonder if dementia is a symptom of MUCH needed vitamins and minerals and the plack is there as a substitute for the missing nutrient. My brother was at the point where everything he said came out as gibberish. I gave him a ton of B complex, mult-vitamin and minerals and cooked fresh real food and he returned to coherent speech. One day he told me he wanted to stop taking all those vitamins, probably because I made him drink water instead of the 6-7 sodas he drank. I stopped giving them to him and when covid hit, the nursing home along with dementia took him out.

[ibugod-]

He made a statement that in 3 years he would know the result...well, it's been 3 years. how about an update in the description?

[banutameem]

Thank you very much for your research and presentation.

[devinedaughter]

Oh what an adorable guy and so intelligent. Thank you for sharing

[rosariosamonte]

Thank you for the info and hope the research will be positive and we'll have treatment for said disease...thank you Dr...have a good day...am 70 yrs old from Philippines so interested especially to help too others...

[creswhiteside]

This man is intelligent! TAke what you can use. He is sharing what he knows. Thank you doctor
for your finding some answer. Readers be very glad to hear what the result of his research. I hope someday, there
will be a total help for people who has dementia and Alzheimer. I know many people who has these disease.
My mother in law suffered from Alzheimer for 10 years before she died. My sister an intelligent woman. She was
a nurse. Now, she was just diagnosed of Dementia. We are so sad. Life must go on. Thank you dr. for sharing.

[drew]

Getting Quality adequate sleep is key I think. What correlation does snoring, lack of oxygen, and sleep cycle disruption have with this disease. I read somewhere that our brain cleanses and restores its self
During the sleep cycles.

[Juliachan]

There's never a single cause for anything as our organism is very complex and all processes are interconnected. Nice work to investigate this condition that makes so many people suffer, but treating the thing with more drugs doesn't seem to be the best way to care. I know CBD is incredible for treating the symptoms, but we need a desperate and massive change in lifestyle to prevent this and other diseases.

[marmon]

Thanks for sharing your research path till date. In my opinion annelid amolyoid and Tau pathologies are just manifestations of a distributed bodily process. They are just symptoms. Rather than develop drugs to remove these pathologies, if we could do a root cause analysis and focus on its removal, we may fix several other issues along with AD and dementia.

[tinmouse]

Until a "cure" there has been much research on the 3 pillars of health diet exercise and sleep, keeping the genes we have from expressing disease. Why not this disease. We all need to take our health into our own hands. Keep working at regulatating weight, moving and getting good quality sleep. We are so lucky to live in a time where help with all these issues is readily available. Good luck to all who read this. Stay motivated!

[chinookvalley]

My father got the diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Devastating. He was in a very nice nursing home - that kept feeding him SOY. Soy is in most foods fed to our seniors, and school age kids in their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Cognitive impairments, poor concentration, memory problems, lethargy, over-emotional, not able to understand simple instructions, can't convey ideas, GI upset, anxiety and depression - can all be linked to SOY. Soy is not a food but a hormone de/regulator. If can adversely affect all of us (cattle act like they do - sedated, irritable, distracted - because of soy, so do dogs and cats when it is in their food) because it is not a food but a medicine. Soy should never be consumed unless it is fermented and then should only be eaten in small amounts. The end of this story is that when my dad wasn't eating soy - he didn't have "Alzheimer's or dementia", his memory was intact, he could tell you the name of everyone who worked in the nursing home and what they did, his sense of humor returned, and he didn't "mess in the bed", he was happy - he was Dad. So, before you dismiss someone as having Alzheimer's or dementia, eliminate SOY totally from their diet (read the ingredients of EVERYTHING because it is hidden in many foods as "protein"! Ensure and other liquid diets are the worst.), and see if they aren't *cured* of this insidious silent killer that robs years from their lives!

[seraconsultants]

I learned more than what I knew before from Dr. Hanseeuw's presentation back in 2017, however I want to inquire and comment on two things: first, are there any results from the research he mentioned back in 2017 ?, if so where can I read more about it, second I felt I was listening more to a prosecutor in his presentation, nevertheless, I praise him for his research and dedication to ending these "criminals" of our minds.

[kennethmoore]

Low risk measures that MIGHT reduce age-related cognitive decline
- physical exercise
- mental exercise/stimulation
- social interaction
- limit alcohol to 1 drink per day
- sleep hygiene (7.5 hours) and treatment of sleep apnea

- optimal control of vascular risk factors: hypertension, obesity (especially central type), dyslipidemia, Mediterranean or DASH diet, smoking cessation

Diet and lifestyle measures probably help for “mixed” dementia due to combination of vascular + degenerative disease.

Advanced education appears to reduce risk.

Acute medical problems (even severe constipation) and many medications (e.g., Benadryl) can cause abrupt deterioration in mental status for patients with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia. Without prompt attention, cognitive function may not return to normal after successful treatment of the problem or discontinuation of the medication.

[ocvegasproperty]

Whoever setup the stage lighting
Has dimentia

[mmb]

Shame there aren't subtitles in other languages. Would be nice to share it with those who doesn't speak english

[dailystreetchats]

Thank You TEDx and Dr. B. Hanseeuw, for sharing this very important information, Alzheimer, as I know this could only happens to old people, but I able to watch a Korean movie, and the story is about a young wife at her early thirties she had this Alzheimer Disease which later she died because of this disease. And that opens my mind that' this scary disease can happen to anyone at any age, and this presentation of yours, gives me hope that this incurable disease can be prevented, and thank you for sharing your expertise.

[simsimahmadi]

What??? No mention of prevention methods!! Well we know: good diet. Good socialisation. Exercise etc

[maryricker]

We have to concentrate on what we know helps exercise and diet and socializing, stimulating your life & activities.