Dubbed metabolic enhancement for neurodegeneration (MEND), the treatment involves a 36-point program that includes medication, dietary changes, vitamin supplements, brain stimulation and exercise, among several other things. In a statement, lead researcher Dale Bredesen described the improvements experienced by the 10 participants as “unprecedented,” adding that “follow up testing showed some of the patients going from abnormal to normal.”
The 10 patients that took part in the study had previously been diagnosed with either Alzheimer’s or one of its precursors, such as mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive impairment. However, after receiving the treatment, many of them no longer met the criteria for their previous diagnoses.
For instance, one man in his mid-60s was found to have suffered from severe shrinking of a part of the brain called the hippocampus, to the point where his hippocampal volume was measured at the 17th percentile for his age group. After 10 months of treatment, however, MRI scans showed that his hippocampal volume had increased to the 75th percentile, coinciding with a major improvement in his cognitive capacities.
Another man in his late 60s, whose long-term memory was at the third percentile for his age, was on the verge of closing down his business at the start of the study as he could no longer function sufficiently. However, after six months of treatment, he was able to memorize his work schedule and recognize the faces of co-workers, while at the 22-month mark his long-term recall had improved to the 84th percentile. As a result, he did not shut down his business.
Explaining why MEND seems to have succeeded where countless other Alzheimer’s treatments have failed, Bredesen said: “Imagine having a roof with 36 holes in it, and your drug patched one hole very well – the drug may have worked, a single 'hole' may have been fixed, but you still have 35 other leaks, and so the underlying process may not be affected much.”
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