18 replies to this topic

[OneScrewLoose]

He is 62 years old. He's always been really sharp but over the last year I've been starting to notice a mental decline. I was wondering what can be done, if anything, to curb this? I already have him on fish oil, vitamin d, magnesium, and a multi. That's just the general basics, but what can be done to prevent cognitive decline?

[Pike]

Here's a list of cheap ones off the top of my head.

Vitamin D - for promoting tyrosine hydrolase
CDP-Choline - long, sustained absorption in dual peaks. HGH promotion
Piracetam - the original nootropic. dirt cheap in bulk
Huperzine - DIRT cheap. natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor
Acetyl-L-Carnitine Arginate - can be bought in bulk powder. stimulates dendrite growth.
Ginkgo Biloba - dirt cheap. one of the most studied cognitive enhancers.
Ginseng - Asian Ginseng is great. American Ginseng is said to be just as awesome, but not so "stimmy." synergizes well with ginkgo.
Phosphatidyl Serine - Shows a great deal of promise for preventing age-related cognitive decline.
Pregnenolone - one of the most widely studied hormones and promotes mental health. DIRT cheap, and even available sublingually.

good luck!

[VespeneGas]

Here's a list of cheap ones off the top of my head.

Vitamin D - for promoting tyrosine hydrolase
CDP-Choline - long, sustained absorption in dual peaks. HGH promotion
Piracetam - the original nootropic. dirt cheap in bulk
Huperzine - DIRT cheap. natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor
Acetyl-L-Carnitine Arginate - can be bought in bulk powder. stimulates dendrite growth.
Ginkgo Biloba - dirt cheap. one of the most studied cognitive enhancers.
Ginseng - Asian Ginseng is great. American Ginseng is said to be just as awesome, but not so "stimmy." synergizes well with ginkgo.
Phosphatidyl Serine - Shows a great deal of promise for preventing age-related cognitive decline.
Pregnenolone - one of the most widely studied hormones and promotes mental health. DIRT cheap, and even available sublingually.

good luck!

Have you seen much glowing research on ginkgo or ginseng? Last time I glanced at the literature, the results were lukewarm at best.

[tintinet]

Has he had a medical exam with CBC and metabolic panel testing lately?

[Pablo M]

Have you seen much glowing research on ginkgo or ginseng? Last time I glanced at the literature, the results were lukewarm at best.

True, but 365 capsules of Life Extension's ginkgo are pretty cheap. I've bought from lifeextensionvitamins.com and healthmegamall.com before.

[Pike]

Here's a list of cheap ones off the top of my head.

Vitamin D - for promoting tyrosine hydrolase
CDP-Choline - long, sustained absorption in dual peaks. HGH promotion
Piracetam - the original nootropic. dirt cheap in bulk
Huperzine - DIRT cheap. natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor
Acetyl-L-Carnitine Arginate - can be bought in bulk powder. stimulates dendrite growth.
Ginkgo Biloba - dirt cheap. one of the most studied cognitive enhancers.
Ginseng - Asian Ginseng is great. American Ginseng is said to be just as awesome, but not so "stimmy." synergizes well with ginkgo.
Phosphatidyl Serine - Shows a great deal of promise for preventing age-related cognitive decline.
Pregnenolone - one of the most widely studied hormones and promotes mental health. DIRT cheap, and even available sublingually.

good luck!

Have you seen much glowing research on ginkgo or ginseng? Last time I glanced at the literature, the results were lukewarm at best.

after reading this, i quickly pubmeded away. you're correct, ginkgo literature is a bit inconclusive and conflicting. ginseng reasearch seems to be a bit nicer. i have, however, been using the two (along with some other ones) for my adhd with some decent success.

well then, i guess i will have to retract my ginkgo suggestion!

[DeadMeat]

If its Alzheimer or something similar you could also consider low dosed lithium aspartate.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17572175

http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/ResearchInformation/NewsReleases/Archives/PR2003/PR20030521lithium.htm

And some anecdotal evidence.
http://www.alzinfo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=100
http://www.alzinfo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27&sid=737f20392c196c36cbf7e8e328c0decf

And possibly normal cinnamon or the water extract of cinnamon(Cinnulin PF).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19433898

And some anecdotal evidence for cinnamon.
http://alzheimers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/675102261/m/6051008062
http://alzheimers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/762104261/m/4531039403
http://www.alzinfo.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2

Edited by DeadMeat, 18 August 2009 - 07:57 PM.

[rwac]

Egcg (Green tea extract) might be a good idea, if he doesn't have liver problems.

Some vit K2 might be good.

Add a decent b-complex with methylcobalamin (included or separate) perhaps ...

Edited by rwac, 18 August 2009 - 08:06 PM.

[aaCharley]

There have been some fairly recent studies on Tumeric as beneficial for Alzheimer's Disease. I believe it may also seem to help with clearing clogged arteries. Mental slipage can be from lots of causes, of course. Blood supply is one to look at.

Some light exercise might also be helpful. Walking a bit could do it. You might look at the Heavy Hands idea for increasing the benefit of taking the simple walk.

Edited by aaCharley, 18 August 2009 - 10:26 PM.

[jessicantique]

Here's a list of cheap ones off the top of my head.

Vitamin D - for promoting tyrosine hydrolase
CDP-Choline - long, sustained absorption in dual peaks. HGH promotion
Piracetam - the original nootropic. dirt cheap in bulk
Huperzine - DIRT cheap. natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor
Acetyl-L-Carnitine Arginate - can be bought in bulk powder. stimulates dendrite growth.
Ginkgo Biloba - dirt cheap. one of the most studied cognitive enhancers.
Ginseng - Asian Ginseng is great. American Ginseng is said to be just as awesome, but not so "stimmy." synergizes well with ginkgo.
Phosphatidyl Serine - Shows a great deal of promise for preventing age-related cognitive decline.
Pregnenolone - one of the most widely studied hormones and promotes mental health. DIRT cheap, and even available sublingually.

good luck!

where do you buy the Acetyl-L-Carnitine Arginate in bulk?

i would definitely give him more mental (or plus physical) exercises .

[HealthologisT]

Greetings Screw: if your Dad is 62, he may be dealing with lower levels of STOMACH ACID which can affect his ability to draw out nutrients from his food. Affecting the brain and the nervous system. This is a form of MALNUTRITION. Have them check for low levels of stomach acid. In this regards, PROBIOTICS may help too. Here is an interesting little PUBMED study i found on the connection between the BRAIN dependent on healthy GUT BACTERIA:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18456279

My Respects

[OneScrewLoose]

I beleive he has had a CBC lately and he is fine. In fact, he is very healthy for his age. No diseases, low cholesterol, everything is fine. I just noticed that he is a little less sharp, and I want to curb that. It seems that no one here has come to any consensus. Would ALCAR help? He has psoraisis btw. He is taking tumeric and Low-Dose Naltrexone for that right now. He is also gltuen free and almost dairy free (only half and half in coffee). Being gluten free seems to help his Psorasis.

So overall he is healthy, I just want to keep his mind that way too.

[castrensis]

I beleive he has had a CBC lately and he is fine. In fact, he is very healthy for his age. No diseases, low cholesterol, everything is fine. I just noticed that he is a little less sharp, and I want to curb that. It seems that no one here has come to any consensus. Would ALCAR help? He has psoraisis btw. He is taking tumeric and Low-Dose Naltrexone for that right now. He is also gltuen free and almost dairy free (only half and half in coffee). Being gluten free seems to help his Psorasis.

So overall he is healthy, I just want to keep his mind that way too.

You should probably consider sharing your concerns with your father's PCP who will likely refer you to a neurologist if he can't uncover any obvious source of cognitive decline. I get the feeling it's a whole lot easier for you to add an extra supplement surreptitiously than to tell your father you think his mind's gone soft & it's something that needs to be addressed with his health care team. Of consideration is that one of his medications or dietary supplements is contributing/causing an acute decline.

There are a lot of reversible things that could be contributing to your father's cognitive decline. Of course, there are a lot of other irreversible conditions that could be contributing to your father's decline as well. Neither can be addressed without an accurate diagnosis.

My grandfather had suffered some pretty serious cognitive decline with short term memory deficits, word search & some loss of spatial memory (he'd get lost on his way back from the bathroom!). I took him to his PCP. First & foremost his COPD had advanced to such a point that his oxygen saturation was sitting around 80-82% - he's now on continuous supplemental oxygen to keep his sats in this 90-92% range (& I've provided him with a compact finger tip pulse oximeter!). Additionally, his labwork revealed hypovitaminosis D, high levels of homocysteine & B12 deficiency. I'm certain correcting his low oxygen probably had a larger role in his transient cognitive decline that the vitamin deficiencies. A cursory review of the literature shows that the jury's still out on whether or not supplementing with D & B12 improves cognitive function, however the risk/benefit analysis of proceeding with B12 injections & oral supplementation of D indicates little risk & possible benefit. His cognition has significantly improved with these simple interventions.

Edited by castrensis, 22 August 2009 - 09:45 PM.

[niner]

I beleive he has had a CBC lately and he is fine. In fact, he is very healthy for his age. No diseases, low cholesterol, everything is fine. I just noticed that he is a little less sharp, and I want to curb that. It seems that no one here has come to any consensus. Would ALCAR help? He has psoraisis btw. He is taking tumeric and Low-Dose Naltrexone for that right now. He is also gltuen free and almost dairy free (only half and half in coffee). Being gluten free seems to help his Psorasis.

So overall he is healthy, I just want to keep his mind that way too.

If he's messing around with LDN, he's a pretty cutting-edge guy! Maybe no consensus, but I see some good ideas there. I would expect ALCAR to be a positive, perhaps a big one. Healthy fats (olive oil, oily fish, nuts, avocado, coconut oil, grass-fed butter...) are good things. Mental and physical exercise is very important. Is it possible that he's depressed? Does anyone other than you notice any symptoms? Could you be seeing effects of LDN-induced insomnia, or some other effect of the LDN treatment?

[OneScrewLoose]

I think he´s been depressed for some time, but he doesn´t want to admit it. He does better on St. John´s Wort, but right now he can´t take it because he is in the process of having a few minor surgeries and he can´t take a blood thinner. The cognitive decline started well before the current introduction of Low Dose Naltrexone. So far it´s only been very minor, but it´s noticable and I want to stop it. He only takes 1.5mg of it, more and it´s too hard to get up in the morning. I haven´t mentioned it to him yet, but me and my mom have noticed it. Perhaps I should, but I don´t want to alarm him. The only things he takes right now is a multi, vit d, magnesium, fish oil, and ldn. I doubt any of that is contributing -to- it. Any suggestions?

[castrensis]

I think he´s been depressed for some time, but he doesn´t want to admit it. He does better on St. John´s Wort, but right now he can´t take it because he is in the process of having a few minor surgeries and he can´t take a blood thinner. The cognitive decline started well before the current introduction of Low Dose Naltrexone. So far it´s only been very minor, but it´s noticable and I want to stop it. He only takes 1.5mg of it, more and it´s too hard to get up in the morning. I haven´t mentioned it to him yet, but me and my mom have noticed it. Perhaps I should, but I don´t want to alarm him. The only things he takes right now is a multi, vit d, magnesium, fish oil, and ldn. I doubt any of that is contributing -to- it. Any suggestions?

It's a difficult step to talk with aging parents/grandparents about a suspected cognitive decline. When I started the discussion with my grandfather I proceeded slowly - realizing he had a short-term memory deficit I began by talking with him daily & asking him simple questions, "What did you eat for breakfast this morning?" or "Tell me about your lunch with Betty" (Betty's a gal he fancies). Soon enough he started to realize that he was having trouble remembering what happened the day before, often halting in speech (word search) & despondently shaking his head followed by, "Why am I having a hard time remembering?"

As soon as he realized there was a problem it was much easier to talk to him about my concerns. Emphasize that you're only discussing the topic because you care about him, you're concerned & want to do everything possible to figure out what the problem is so you can reverse the process. Involving his wife in this discussion may help quite a bit, so he doesn't think it's only you who have recognized there's a problem. I involved my grandfather's brother & my father to make it clear that we thought it was a serious problem that needed to be addressed. My grandfather went through a brief period of denial, but due to the memory challenges I'd presented him with the week before he became eager to figure out what the problem was & how to fix it. It was doubly difficult to start the discussion because he's voiced to me on numerous occasions that cognitive decline was his greatest fear - "Don't let me become a retarded cripple with a drool cup in one of those homes, you understand son?" - but I think it was because of this fear that he ultimately decided to go along with the plan.

You best bet is to talk with your father's PCP about how to start the discussion, he may suggest that he makes the assessment during a visit & recommend that your father undergoes further testing. Another concern is that if it goes on for too long a reversible problem may become irreversible. Folks in health care are adept at taking the blame to keep family dynamics as copacetic as possible - should you attempt to talk with him & it backfires he'll lose an essential support network that helps him maintain his healthspan as long as possible.

GL.

[Jay]

What about a few tablespoons of MCT/coconut oil per day? The theory is that having some ketones floating around provides an alternate source of fuel for brain cells that lose their ability to feed on glucose. May be less relevant to the extent your dad has no insulin resistance/diabetes. Here are some links:

http://docs.google.c.....plication/pdf
http://docs.google.c...g...2Fpdf&pli=1
http://docs.google.c.....plication/pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum
http://www.physorg.c...s110029762.html
http://www.dana.org/...tail.aspx?id=66
http://www.coconutketones.com/
http://coconutketones.blogspot.com/
http://www.nutrition.../content/2/1/28.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum
http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum
http://freetheanimal...oconut-oil.html.
http://high-fat-nutr.....20and ketones

[OneScrewLoose]

His blood sugar is fine. His doctor's are always impressed on how healthy he is physically. He's still pretty sharp, sharper than me still (I have ADD), but not as much as three years ago. I am hoping it's something that can be nipped in the bud now.

[OneScrewLoose]

I wanted to give this a bump. I studied abroad for a year, having give me Dad fish oil, vitamins, and vitamin d before I left. He was also on and off the LDN. I come back, and the little things are becoming bigger things. His directional skill skills are worse, and some weird memory things are happening, like him saying Clinton was elected in the 80s. I'm really worried. He also forgot who one of my better friends was when I mentioned her name, even though they've met many, many times. I put him on 1.25mg of selegiline for now (MAOBs show evidence of preventing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's), but I need to break this to him somehow and make sure he reregisters his insurance (from LA city) so he can see a real doctor instead of me giving him stuff. Thing his we're real busy right now and I have to wait a couple weeks to mention it.

Any other recommendations for supps (until we can get him to a doc)? I'm gonna try the ALCAR soon.