Wellness Unmasked Weekly Update: Early Alzheimer's Detection and Vaccine Update

In this update, Dr. Nicole Saphier discusses the FDA's recent approval of a blood test for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease, emphasizing the importance of early intervention and lifestyle choices for brain health. She also highlights the removal of the COVID vaccine from the recommended schedule for healthy children and pregnant women, teasing an upcoming interview with FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary. Wellness Unmasked is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Friday.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome Math to Wellness Unmasked doctor Nicol Saftmeier, and this
is your weekly rundown for it this week. Well, a
lot of big things happening at the FDA with new
FDA Commissioner, doctor Marty Mcarey. And one of the big
things to come out of the FDA this week is
a new FDA proved blood test for the early detection
of Alzheimer's. Now, this test was actually able to be
expedited in its approval because it is similar to an

(00:24):
existing blood test on the market. But what is different
with this blood test is it's looking at the ratio
between the amyloid and the tau proteins, and this plasma
ratio test is designed for the early detection of amyloid
plaques that are associated with Alzheimer's disease. The existing test
on the market is a blood test, but it was
also needing to be used in conjunction with more expensive

(00:47):
and invasive methodologies like pet slash, CT scans or lumbar
punctures to look at spinal fluid. This blood test is
designed to be a standalone test, so if it is positive,
the assumption can be that the pay has Alzheimer's disease. Now,
this is not being recommended as a screening test for
everyone to see if they have Alzheimer's disease. What it's

(01:07):
approved for is an adult's age fifty five and older
who are starting to show signs and symptoms of the conditions,
specifically memory loss, word finding difficulties. At this point, after
you have been recommended to see a neurologist, the neurologists
can decide whether or not the patient qualifies for this
blood test. This new test is exciting because it allows

(01:28):
for early detection, and the benefit of early detection is
early intervention. So this new test follows the recent FDA
approval of two medications which are being shown to be
highly effective in removing amyloid from the brain. Clinical trials
have shown that these treatment may be able to actually
slow the progression of dementia. Ten years ago, Alzheimer's was

(01:49):
thought as having no hope, but now there is hope.
Not only now do we have treatments that are approving
the life expectancy and the quality of life of these patients.
This blood test gives us the ability for early detection,
and as you have heard me say at nauseum, early
detection saves lives, not just in cancer care or cardiovascular disease,
but also when it comes to Alzheimer's. At this point,

(02:11):
given that there is no specific treatment indicated for someone
who's asymptomatic, who meaning who doesn't have any symptoms of Alzheimer's,
it's not recommended to get the blood test because if
you have a positive blood test but you have no symptoms,
then at that point we may be introducing psychological harm
and worry and anxiety of what the future might bring.
So as I recommend to everyone, there are healthy approaches

(02:32):
to lifestyle that remains central to how we should be
living to maintain our brain health and do everything we
can to decrease our risk of dementia. The biggest thing
with that is eating healthy, eating diets that are high
in omega three fatty acids like Mediterranean diets high in
fish and eggs and other things. You also want to
make sure that you are exercising. Increasing that blood float

(02:55):
of the brain is crucial for making sure that your
brain is healthy. Prioritizing your sleep. If you are not
getting adequate sleep, your brain is suffering. I promise you.
You also want to make sure you're engaging in social activities,
and that doesn't mean being on your phone, especially not
on social media. You need to have face to face
interaction with people, challenge your brain puzzles, learning a new language,

(03:16):
doing anything, gardening, being outdoors. And also you want to
protect your hearing. Did you know that if you have
difficulty hearing, that causes a sense of isolation that also
increases your risk of dementia. And as you know, I
love natural herbs, so in supplements in general, so coline
is one of the best things for your brain. My
family gets a ton of colin in our daily egg consumption.

(03:39):
Creating is tried and true. It is good for not
only building lean muscle, but also for your cognitive health.
And some specific herbs like bacoba, monieri, ginseng, giggle baloba, rosemary,
stage these are all good things for your brain. So
don't spend your time worrying about dementia. Do everything you
can to prevent dementia and keep your brain as health

(04:00):
as possible. And if you are starting to have symptoms,
go see a doctor. You may qualify for this blood test.
Another big thing that came out of the FDA this week,
which I'm very excited about, is the fact that the
COVID vaccines will removed from the recommended vaccine schedule in
healthy young kids as well as pregnant patients. Now, while
I'm very excited to get into the details on why

(04:23):
this occurred, we are lucky enough to have doctor Marty mcarey,
the new FDA Commissioner. He is going to sit down
with us on Wellness on Mass next week and we
are diving into exactly what happened to make this decision,
whether it was reviewing old data or if there's new
data that we don't even know about. That is an
interview with doctor Marty McCarey. You do not want to miss.

(04:44):
Thanks for listening to Wellness Unmasks on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart. Follow Wellness on Mass with doctor Nicole
Sathfire and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll catch
you next time.