Alzheimer’s disease is referred to in professional circles as a modern epidemic. It is the most common type of dementia. A role is played here on the one hand by the increasing age that we are living, but on the other hand by stress, lack of sleep, genetics and gender. Women and possibly offspring of mothers with this neurodegenerative disease are more at risk. Psychedelics could be a new hope in treatment.
Statistics show that almost 10 million patients are currently dealing with this disease in the European Union, and by 2050 this number will jump to 14 million. According to neurologist, expert in cognitive disorders and dementia from the National Institute of Mental Health and at the same time co-founder of the first psychedelic clinic Psyon MUDr. According to Martin Brunovský, these numbers are still very optimistic (according to some statistics, we will reach 14 million already in 2030) and we should prepare for the fact that Alzheimer’s disease will closely affect the whole society.
“Certain weakening of cognitive abilities, such as impaired short-term memory, is part of old age. We also have so-called super-seniors, whose brains still function as they did in their twenties, but they are only a fraction, up to five percent. And then there are cases from the opposite spectrum, in which everything gets worse faster than is common among their peers,” explains the scientist. Dementia is referred to when a given person needs help with basic needs due to a cognitive deficit – hygiene, dressing, shopping, cleaning…
Sometimes it is possible to hear the term “senile dementia”, but as Brunovský points out, it is not a diagnosis, but only a statement that a person at an older age suffered from some unspecified type of dementia. Most often, it is precisely Alzheimer’s disease, or so-called vascular dementia, in which blood vessels in the brain become blocked and nerve tissue gradually dies due to a lack of oxygen or nutrients. It is this type that is very much associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and we have more of it in our hands. Other types of dementia are, for example, dementia in Parkinson’s disease or frontotemporal dementia (actor Bruce Willis suffers from it, for example).
As for Alzheimer’s disease, self-care is definitely beneficial, but it is unfortunately impossible to say whether the development of the disease could be completely prevented. “Research shows that people in southern Europe suffer less often from this disease, this is most likely due to the influence of the so-called Mediterranean diet. Maintaining a reasonable weight, regular exercise and brain stimulation have a positive effect. It shouldn’t just slide into solving crosswords and sudoku, it should be a complex activity, such as learning a new language or solving more complex tasks – today there are also special training applications that set the ideal load for you,” calculates Martin Brunovský. Unfortunately, genetics and gender also play a role in the development of the disease.
“For a long time it was believed that women suffer from Alzheimer’s disease more often because they live to an older age. But when this variable was recalculated, it still turned out that the disease affects the fairer sex more often. There are even works that indicate that offspring of mothers with this type of dementia are more at risk,” reveals the doctor. Hormones and the protective nature of estrogen, the production of which rapidly decreases during menopause, will probably have an effect. This is also why it seems advantageous in some cases to offer women hormonal preparations. “However, it is important to also consider the possible negatives of hormonal treatment, which can carry with it a higher risk of certain cancer diseases,” points out Brunovský.
A second risk factor beyond a healthy lifestyle is lack of sleep. The brain has its own glymphatic system, which, like the lymphatic system in the body, rids it of harmful substances. But it only works during deep sleep. Therefore, if a person sleeps little or poorly, the brain does not have a chance to get rid of harmful substances, and as a result of their accumulation, it can begin to degenerate.
Under the leadership of Martin Brunovský, a pilot study investigating the effects of psychoactive substances on the brains of patients with mild cognitive impairment, which precedes Alzheimer’s disease, is currently being prepared at the National Institute of Mental Health. “It’s not that psychedelics can regenerate dead cells, but they have the ability to create new connections between cells. Our cognitive abilities are not determined by the number of neurons, but by the number of connections between them,” he explains. We are talking about neuroplasticity of the brain, simply put, the ability of the brain to change, adapt and, if necessary, move functions from a non-functional part to an unaffected part. This is advantageous, for example, in case of brain injury or neurodegenerative diseases. It could be a way to slow down the degeneration.
The Czech pilot study is unique in the world. So far, similar research has only been carried out in mice as part of preclinical research. The problem is with the financing of the study – it is financially very disadvantageous for pharmaceutical companies to invest money in long-term projects based on already known preparations that cannot be patented, and for scientific circles it is a very expensive undertaking. “The budget of this pilot study is 45 million crowns. If we get a grant of 15 million from state resources, it will be a great success. That’s also why we founded the PSYRES Endowment Fund for Psychedelic Research, with the help of which we are trying to finance research,” says Martin Brunovský.
Source:
fitness podcast author
Vascular dementia
PSYRES Endowment Fund for Psychedelic Research
Tags: Podcast neurologist Alzheimers risk women sleep
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