Slash tomorrow’s Alzheimer’s risk today

As a parent, you would do whatever you could to protect the health of your kids... [Click here](1770d7/ct0_0/1/ms?sid=TV2%3AjipGR8Zrm) to view this message in your browser | [Click here](1770d7/l-002e/zout?sid=TV2%3AjipGR8Zrm) to stop receiving our messages [] [] Al Sears, MD 11905 Southern Blvd. Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 [] April 28, 2023 [] Reader, As a parent, you would do whatever you could to protect the health of your kids...no matter how old they are. I know I would. And some of the best advice you can give your adult children is telling them to check their blood pressure – and get it under control if it’s high. It’s key to protecting their brains from memory loss decades down the road. New research out of the University of California, Davis confirms what I’ve been telling my patients for years: Having hypertension early in life greatly increases the risk of dementia later in life.1 This is especially true for men. In the study, researchers obtained health information from nearly 430 patients enrolled in two health studies between 1964 and 1985. They specifically looked at blood pressure readings taken when the patients were between the ages of 30 to 40. Then between 2017 and 2022, they conducted MRI scans on the same patients. This allowed them to look for biomarkers of neurodegeneration and white matter integrity in their older brains. They found a significant reduction in cerebral gray matter volume and worse white matter integrity. They also noted lower frontal cortex volume and less brain connectivity. All of these factors are associated with dementia. This research backs up an earlier study published in the journal Lancet Neurology which showed that high blood pressure can cause Alzheimer’s. It found that people with high blood pressure in middle age had smaller brains and poorer brain health in their 70s compared to people with normal blood pressure.2 But the researchers also determined no link between blood pressure and the build-up of amyloid proteins — the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. This means that brain shrinkage is a direct result of changes in the blood vessels that bring oxygen-rich blood to the brain. You see, high blood pressure damages and weakens blood vessels in the brain. And when blood supply becomes impaired, the amount of energy supplied to your brain cells gets compromised. One of the reasons for the breakdown in this energy supply is a breakdown in the blood-brain barrier. When blood flow to the brain is restricted, your brain gets less oxygen and fewer nutrients, causing shrinkage. And that leads to lower cognitive function.3 Reduce hypertension to protect future brain Conventional doctors are quick to prescribe drugs to bring high blood pressure down. In some cases, they’ll put you on two or three different pills. These include diuretics, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers. [I’ve been warning about the danger of these drugs for years](1770d7/ct1_0/1/lu?sid=TV2%3AjipGR8Zrm). I only use them as a last resort. They have serious side effects and can even lead to cardiac failure, heart attack, depression, colitis, and arthritis pain. Here’s what I recommend instead: - “Beet” hypertension with red root. Studies show that eating beets can significantly lower blood pressure within hours. When you eat beetroot, it combines with saliva and bacteria on your tongue and turns into nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is a natural vasodilator that relaxes your blood vessels and causes them to widen. This increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure. And when NO hits your stomach, it starts to recirculate throughout your body and causes your blood pressure to drop. Beets also help to improve blood flow to the brain, making them the ideal choice. Chewing a piece of beetroot provides the best results. But if that isn’t appealing, supplement with 1 gram of beetroot juice powder once a day. - Swap your cooking oil for sesame. A study in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine looked at a group of people between 35 and 60. They used sesame oil as their main edible oil for 90 days. They had an average 20-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 14-point drop in diastolic pressure.4 Researchers believe the combination of the heart-healthy polyunsaturated oil and the unique compound sesamin found in sesame oil causes the blood vessels to relax. This prevents pressure spikes. - Take CoQ10, my favorite supplement. This nutrient alone helps 50% of my patients get high blood pressure back to normal. Studies show that boosting your CoQ10 can drop blood pressure an amazing 11 to 17 mmHg in systolic pressure and 8 to 10 mmHg in diastolic pressure.5 In another study, adding just 120 mg/day of CoQ10 for eight weeks in patients with high blood pressure and coronary artery disease decreased systolic pressure by an average of 12 mmHg and diastolic pressure by an average of 6 mmHg compared to a placebo.6 I recommend taking 100 mg a day until your blood pressure is under control. At that point, you can drop to 60 mg. And make sure you take the ubiquinol form of CoQ10 —the most potent. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS --------------------------------------------------------------- References: 1. George K, et al. “Association of early adulthood hypertension and blood pressure change with late-life neuroimaging biomarkers.” JAMA Network Open. 2023;6(4): e236431 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.6431. 2. Lane CA, et al. “Associations between blood pressure across adulthood and late-life brain structure and pathology in the neuroscience substudy of the 1946 British birth cohort (Insight 46): An epidemiological study.” Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(10):942-952. 3. Alosco ML, et al. “The adverse effects of reduced cerebral perfusion on cognition and brain structure in older adults with cardiovascular disease.” Brain Behav. 2013;3(6):626-636. 4. Sankar D, et al. “Effect of sesame oil on diuretics or Beta-blockers in the modulation of blood pressure, anthropometry, lipid profile, and redox status.” Yale J Biol Med. 2006 Mar;79(1):19-26. 5. Rosenfeldt FL, et al. “Coenzyme Q10 in the treatment of hypertension: a meta-analysis of the clinical trials.” J Hum Hypertens. 2007;21(4):297-306. 6. Singh RB, et al. “Effect of hydrosoluble coenzyme Q10 on blood pressures and insulin resistance in hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease.” J Hum Hypertens. 1999;13(3):203-208. alsearsmd@send.alsearsmd.com [Preferences | Unsubscribe](1770d7/l-002e/zout?sid=TV2%3AjipGR8Zrm) 11905 Southern Blvd., Royal Palm Beach, Florida 33411, United States