Buyer Beware: Alzheimer’s Society of Canada & Doctor Warn of Misleading Alzheimer’s Claims

In today’s episode, Lisa discusses information presented by The Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s research program that sheds light on a current program that claims to reverse Alzheimer’s disease, despite a lack of evidence that it works. Additionally, Dr. Reza Hosseini Ghomi, MD, MSE. Dr. Ghomi, who is a Neuropsychiatrist,  a 2X Best-Selling Author, and an expert on dementia, who has diagnosed over 1000 dementia cases throughout his career, also shares his own independent facts about the exact same claims that are revealed by the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s research program.  Listen to this episode to find out the details of what you definitely need to be aware of , and why, in order to make an informed decision if you are considering one of these existing programs.  The findings in both of these articles are astonishing!   

Mentioned Resources:

• https://alzheimer.ca
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/rezahg/

About the Host:

Author Lisa Skinner is a behavioral specialist with expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. In her 30+year career working with family members and caregivers, Lisa has taught them how to successfully navigate the many challenges that accompany this heartbreaking disease. Lisa is both a Certified Dementia Practitioner and is also a certified dementia care trainer through the Alzheimer’s Association. She also holds a degree in Human Behavior.

Her latest book, “Truth, Lies & Alzheimer’s – Its Secret Faces” continues Lisa’s quest of working with dementia-related illnesses and teaching families and caregivers how to better understand the daunting challenges of brain disease. Her #1 Best-seller book “Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost,” was written at their urging. As someone who has had eight family members diagnosed with dementia, Lisa Skinner has found her calling in helping others through the struggle so they can have a better-quality relationship with their loved ones through education and through her workshops on counter-intuitive solutions and tools to help people effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. Lisa Skinner has appeared on many national and regional media broadcasts. Lisa helps explain behaviors caused by dementia, encourages those who feel burdened, and gives practical advice for how to respond.

So many people today are heavily impacted by Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The Alzheimer's Association and the World Health Organization have projected that the number of people who will develop Alzheimer's disease by the year 2050 worldwide will triple if a treatment or cure is not found. Society is not prepared to care for the projected increase of people who will develop this devastating disease. In her 30 years of working with family members and caregivers who suffer from dementia, Lisa has recognized how little people really understand the complexities of what living with this disease is really like. For Lisa, it starts with knowledge, education, and training.

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Episode Transcript

Lisa Skinner (00:00):
Hi everyone. Welcome back to the truth, lies
and Alzheimer Show. I'm yourhost, Lisa Skinner, and I am
going to bring up a topic todaythat is a little uncomfortable,
but I felt very strongly that Ineed to bring it to everybody's

(00:21):
attention, because it's based onthe name of my show, truth, lies
and Alzheimer's. And I thinkeverybody has a right to be
privy to information that's outthere when it comes to making
decisions for your loved oneswho are living with Alzheimer's
disease. And where I found thisarticle with actually was

(00:47):
published on the website of theAlzheimer's Society of Canada.
So I'm going to read this toyou. They're obviously very
concerned about it. When I readit, I was I've also been aware
of some of these companies andthe claims that they're making
to treat reverse Alzheimer's,and I think that it's only fair

(01:14):
to all of you to be at least beaware of This information, and
that way you can make informeddecisions for whatever direction
you choose to go in with yourloved ones. So this is referring
to a doctor, Bredesen, and hehas a protocol that he offers

(01:40):
that the Alzheimer's Society ofCanada feels that it's offering
false hope of reversingAlzheimer's disease. So this is,
this is what's contained in thispublication. It's a program that
claims to reverse Alzheimer'sdisease in growth that's growing

(02:04):
in popularity despite lack ofevidence that it works. So in an
upcoming film called memoriesfor life, reversing Alzheimer's
will soon be available onstreaming services. The film is
presented as a documentary andhighlights a treatment protocol

(02:26):
for Alzheimer's diseasedeveloped by Doctor Dale
Bredesen and marketed under thename recode. The film and
Bredesen books and papers make anumber of claims about a
treatment protocol that has notyet been proven. Concerns about

(02:47):
the protocol have been shared inleading research journals,
including the lancet neurologyjournal and theoretical medicine
and bioethics. Best practicesfor treating Alzheimer's disease
are available in more widelyverified research, such as the

(03:08):
fifth Canadian consensusconference on the diagnosis and
treatment of dementia. So here'swhat it says about this
protocol. They first of all,they claim to reverse
Alzheimer's disease, and withthe Alzheimer's Society of

(03:29):
Canada writes in response tothat claim, is, to date, there
have been no clinicallyvalidated systems, medications
or lifestyle changes proven toreverse Alzheimer's disease. The
recode system includes blood andDNA tests that claim to review a

(03:54):
series of factors thatcontribute to Alzheimer's
disease, followed byrecommendations that claim to
target these risk factors and orreverse the damage already done
by them. Finally, the protocolincludes several lifestyle

(04:16):
changes, including dietsupplements, exercise, sleep,
stress reduction and oralhygiene, as well as brain
training, games. Dr Bredesenclaims that each protocol is
tailored to each individual,while many of the lifestyle

(04:39):
changes with the Bredesenprotocol may indeed benefit
people living with dementia interms of supporting better
quality of life. These changescannot reverse or cure
Alzheimer's disease. There areways to live well with dementia.

(05:00):
I've discussed that on many ofmy episodes that have been
scientifically backed, butmaking lifestyle changes that
help to maintain your currentfunctioning can give you time to
stay connected with friends,family and plan for your future.

(05:21):
So, you know, I was, I wasthinking about this because
Alzheimer's disease has been abrain disease. It's been around
since mankind first showed up onEarth, and 125 years since
Doctor Eloise Alzheimer actuallyput a name to it and autopsied

(05:45):
the brain of the client that hadit, and saw the plaques and the
tangles and the brain anddecided to call this condition
Alzheimer's disease. So myfeeling is, if somebody out
there figured out a way toreverse Alzheimer's disease,

(06:09):
wouldn't it stand to reason thateverybody on this planet would
be rushing to get in on it?That's that's my thought
process, but that's nothappening. So anyway, that's
just my two cents. There issignificant financial investment

(06:30):
required to undergo go thisrecode protocol, including the
program itself, the testing, thesupplements, the alternative
therapies and the special dietsthat they put their patients on,
most, if not all, thesetreatments are not covered by

(06:53):
health plans. A person mayinvest 1000s of dollars or more
in a program that has not beenproven to reverse Alzheimer's
disease. Now this Bredesenrecode protocol and other
programs are offered in Canadaby a variety of individuals who

(07:15):
claim to be experts, though thetraining program on Bredesen
company website does not requireits trainees to have any sort of
regulated credential. Medicaltreatments and lifestyle changes
while living with dementiashould be implemented in
collaboration with your primarycare provider. The claims simply

(07:38):
aren't backed by science, hisresearch is limited, with papers
that share anecdotal storiesfrom 10 to 100 people, a larger
sample size, replication of hisprotocol and more peer review
are essential To determine ifthese claims are valid.

(08:01):
Anecdotes alone are not enoughevidence for a claim of this
size. Now I am airing thisprogram from the United States,
and this one is specificallytalking about a protocol that is

(08:22):
offered in Canada, but there arevery similar organizations in
the United States that areoffering very similar protocols
to the one I just read you. Sothey're here too. As a matter of
fact, I've read some of DoctorGOMI published pieces in other

(08:47):
episodes, but for this topic,specifically, he states, now,
Doc, Doctor GOMI, let me justremind you, he's a
neuropsychiatrist, an engineer,and he has professionally

(09:08):
diagnosed in his practice over1000
patients, of his patients withAlzheimer's disease or another
brain disease that Causesdementia. So this is what he
says on the same exact topic,how do you separate science from
sales? The This question comesup constantly in my practice. He

(09:33):
says patients bring me books,websites and protocols promising
to reverse dementia. Some claimto be evidence based. Others are
expensive marketing. So How canpatients tell the difference?
That's really the 64 bazilliondollar question. So he uses,

(09:57):
this is coincidence. He uses. DrBredesen protocol treatment
program as his example, too, andhe says the good UCLA trained
neurologist with legitimatecredentials is he's referring to
Dr Bredesen. He's had publishedpeer reviewed research on

(10:19):
Alzheimer's mechanisms. Focuseson root causes instead of just
symptoms, and emphasizeslifestyle interventions with
strong evidence the concerningcharges up to $10,500 for the
treatment packages promises toreverse Alzheimer's disease,

(10:42):
which he says in parentheses, anextraordinary claim, relies
heavily on testimonials and casestudies, promotes expensive
supplement regimes, and hisframework for evaluating this
health information is foreverybody considering something

(11:06):
like this, you always want tocheck their credentials. Is the
author, a licensed physician inthe relevant specialty? Do they
have hospital or universityaffiliations? Have they
published research in peerreviewed journals, and has that

(11:27):
been recently and then look forconflicts of interest? Are they
selling something expensive? Dothey profit from recommending
specific products, likesupplements? Are they making
claims that support theirbusiness model? And then he

(11:47):
recommends evaluate the evidencethat you uncover are claims
based on large randomized trialsor just case studies and
testimonials have results beenreplicated by independent
researchers, and then watch thelanguage they use in their

(12:10):
advertising or in talking toyou. Real Science uses cautious
language. In other words, coupleof the examples he uses in
quotes may help or quote unquotesuggests marketing uses absolute
languages like quote unquotereverses, quote unquote cures,

(12:35):
quote unquote breakthrough. Thebread is an example, according
to Dr GOMI says his coreprinciples are solid. They
address sleep, exercise,nutrition, stress, social
connection. And theseinterventions do have strong
evidence for brain health, butpaying 1000s of dollars for

(13:00):
personalized protocols. That's alittle harder to justify his
advice to his patients, take thegood, leave the expensive. Now
he lists free evidence baseddementia preventions, 150
minutes of of weekly exercise, aMediterranean style diet, seven

(13:23):
to nine hours of quality sleepeach night, social engagement,
stress management. If you havehearing loss, wear your hearing
aids. They'll make a hugedifference in your risk of
developing Alzheimer's disease.You don't He says you do not
need expensive protocols toprotect your brain. Red flags in

(13:49):
health information when theymake claims like this is
something big pharma doesn'twant you to know. This is one
weird trick testimonials insteadof actual, raw evidence based
data, expensive, proprietarysupplements, he includes in that

(14:11):
list and claims that seem toogood to be true, the bottom line
be an informed skeptic, and thatis why I wanted to bring this
information to y'all today inthis episode of the truth lies
and Alzheimer's show, becauseit's only fair to all of you to

(14:36):
be aware of this information soyou can do your due diligence.
Yeah, so that is our tworecently published articles
about some of the claims thatsome of these companies are
making. Can do for us and I.Think, really, what we want to

(15:01):
take away from this is there isabsolutely nothing out there
that any scientist, medicalprofessional, anybody knows as
of this conversation, that canindeed reverse dementia, as far
as the claims that it can slowdown the progression of it.

(15:22):
There's no known scientificevidence to that either, whether
people start to feel better andmaybe regain some of their
sharpness, possibly, I don'tknow anybody personally, but
just be aware and be informed.So that's what I have for you

(15:44):
today on the truth lies andAlzheimer's show, I am Lisa
Skinner, your host, and asalways, I hope you have a happy
and healthy rest of your week,and I look forward to everybody
coming back next week for somemore fun filled information
about living with Alzheimer'sdisease and related dementia. So

(16:08):
take good care for now. Bye,bye.