Coconut oil & Alzheimer's
Hi Nurse Dina,
Please let your readers know about the story on coconut oil research and the very positive effects it has on Alzheimer's disease.
The story can be found here: http://www.anh-usa.org/coconut-oil-and-alzheimer%E2%80%99s-disease/
Due to the increasing knowledge we are gaining about the adverse side effects of the current drug treatments and just how innefective they are at treating this disease, its my belief sites like your have a duty to get this knowledge out into the mainstream of Alzheimer sufferers and their carers.
Kind regards
Graham
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EmailNancy, I really liked your reply. I read the article on Coconut Oil and I thought 'maybe I should try that for Paul' but I get so sick of hearing about all these 'non prescription cures' that try to make you feel guilty if you don't at least try them. We could spend a fortune on things that 'might' work but the reality is there is nothing proven at the moment that can gaurantee a cure and to my mind it is going to be many years before there is, unfortunately.
I haven't logged on to this site for a while I like the new format.
As from next week I now have three days a week day care for my husband, moving up from two days a week. I am very grateful for this as it has helped me to still care for him without having to put him into respite care so I can have a break. I have also been given 52 days a year where I can get a member of our family to care for him and they will be paid $NZ65 per 24 hours. At this stage I have not used it as most of this falls on one daughter who is a big help to me anyway but it is nice to know it is there if maybe I need a night or two away.
We have moved home about 4 months ago as the property where we lived became to big for me to look after. The move as been reasonably successful but quiet disruptive for Paul. We are in a much smaller home with very small grounds which is good and bad, I miss my garden but as Paul was no longer able to help me it is much easier and we are only just round the corner from our daughter, plus the set up of the house is similar to our old house although with one less bedroom. (bit of a struggle to fit everything in) The house really needs a bit of a spruce up inside but I have decided that can wait we do not need any more disruptions.
Sorry this is pretty much all irrelevant to what I started out with (Coconut oil) but I just felt the need to put this down. Hopefully I will have the time to check in on this site more often now.
Jocelyn
10/15/2010 Hi Jocelyn
Good to hear from you. Guess I just get tied up in knots when I read things (like the coconut oil posting) that people say will stop and/or reverse Alzheimer's and I can't find any valid medical research data to support the claim. We want so much to have our loved ones back to where they were before the dementia struck, that sometimes people will pay almost anything. Oh well, that is one of my soap boxes.
Glad to hear the move went pretty good. Yes, any move from one home to another will cause problems with Paul getting familiar with the new location. Hopefully it won't be much longer before he settles down. At least your daughter is very close for support and help.
The need to talk about our loved ones and their Alzheimer's situations is always important. It helps me a lot to talk with someone about what is happening with Mom. And, it helps posting to these Forums and see how others are dealing with their loved ones dementia. Please feel free to come and talk about what is happening with Paul and with you. You may want to check out another Forum -- Caregiver's Forum With Ann". You can start your and Paul's own Topic/Thread or join in with the one Ann started "Just Plain Support". I join in on that one plus I have added one of my own dealing with my Mom (Mom Okay Sort Of Most Days..).
Really hope things start settling down. Let us know how things are going. NancyA (Nancy)
I am very pleased you spoke your feelings and convictions about the post that began this thread.
It's obvious some people just don't take seriously...the importance of this site and the folks who post here with genuine desires to HELP their loved ones.
Thank you for setting this issue straight and for working to protect the site and the folks who post here
I hope you are having a pleasant weekend...
Soft Hugs, Suzer
Dear Graham,
Coconut oil was discussed in a number of threads on the old AlzheimersWeekly.com forums, especially when the subject of Axona was discussed. However, we upgraded the growing website to a much more sophisticated framework called Drupal just about month ago, so we need to start fresh.
As a result, we decided to put together the latest information on the subject and roll out a new series of articles. The intensity of this thread’s debate is bearing fruit. You can find the articles in the following library:
From the top of any page, select:
LIBRARY ->
MEDICATIONS & SUPPLEMENTS ->
AXONA, COCONUT OIL & KETOGENICS
In addition, there is now a blog on this site consisting of a growing collection of testimonials and such by people using coconut oil, Axona or other rich sources of MCTs. Check it out here:
Coconut Oil & Alzheimer's Blog
A thumbs-up to everyone who is participating 
, both for opening up the subject afresh, as well as articulately presenting the difficult conflicts involved.
Here's an updated listing of some videos & articles you will find on this site:
Coconut Oil & Alzheimer's
- Dr. Mary Newport on her Research on Treating Alzheimer's with Coconut Oil
- Coconut Oil Ketones Increase Blood Circulation to Brain
- Why Aren't Doctors Recommending Coconut Oil?
Alzheimer's Diet Details
- How much daily coconut oil helps Alzheimer's?
- Isn't Coconut Oil Fattening ?
- Coconut Oil's Fat Dangers vs. Brain Benefits
- Is desiccated coconut any good for dementia?
Coconut Oil Testimonials
- Bruce is overcoming dementia with the help of God and coconut oil.
- Alzheimer's & Coconut Oil: One Couple's Testimonial
- NIH's Dr. Veech on Post-Coconut-Oil Clock Test for Dementia
- Research Demonstrating Benefits of Coconut Oil on Steve's Alzheimer's
- Testimonials for Coconut Oil as a Dementia Therapy
- What’s Bad About Using Coconut Oil for Dementia?
Ketogenics: The Science Behind Coconut Oil for Alzheimer's
- The Keto-Dementia Diet
- Keto-Dementia Diet Books
- Is the Ketodementia Diet Effective for Diabetics?
- Keto therapy
- Dietary Ketosis Study Results
The Ketogenic Diet for Dementia
- Ketogenic Diet Improves Dementia in Mice
- Mom has dementia: Is the Ketogenic Diet dangerous?
- The Ketogenic Diet's Side-Effects
Moving Up from Coconut Oil
- Axona, MCT & Coconut Oil: Differences & Benefits
- If Axona’s a Volvo, Coconut Oil is an Ol’ Chevy
- Is lower cost Coconut Oil as effective as higher priced Axona?
- Ketone Esters Treat Alzheimer's 10 Times Better Than Coconut Oil
- Axona's expensive. Anyone experience results, alternatives or just stopping it?
- Benefits Observed After Using MCT/ Coconut Oil for Alzheimer's
Axona: The FDA's Medical Food Version of Coconut Oil
- Introducing Axona
- How Axona Works
- Axona Passes Two Clinical Studies
- A Caregiver Speaks About Axona
- New Clinical Trial Results for Axona
- Dad's nursing home claims they can't get Axona from their pharmacy!
- Are there ways to save on Axona?
- 93-Year-Old Teresa Alfonso Tries Axona
We hope you’ll like our extensive coverage on coconut oil,
Peter
Dear Dina,
What should I be asking my mother's geriatric physician regarding the coconut oil or other similar alternatives. What should I be buying, actual coconut oil or something else that is similar. Thanks, Nina
My husband has been on coconut oil for over a year now. He was first diagnoised with dementia in December of 2008. In August of 2010 he was diagnosed with Mixed Dementia (Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer's). At the USF Byrd Alzhiemer's Institute which did this diagnosis two months ago, I was told that my husband should not even be dressing himself. However he does. He was also ordered to not drive until he took a driving test. He passed the driving test. Granted he does drive with a navigational device he has been using for a year, but he is able to drive by himself on errands during the week while I work. I also am very comfortable with his driving.
So how does he get coconut oil? I put it in his food. For breakfast I:
- Put it on a bagel before the cream cheese
- Put it in oatmeal
- Put it on a waffle before the syrup
For lunch usually I put it on a sandwich before mustard or mayonnaise. He often complains about his greasy food, but also jokes that when he gets into bed he slides across the bed. Sometimes I find recipes for dinner that I can put coconut oil in such as stroganoff, but not always. I feel I have covered the basis with two meals.
I order it from Tropical Traditions or Vitacost. Currently I have a huge tub from Tropical Traditions that will last maybe a half of a year. I blog about this on http://plantcityladyandfriends.blogspot.com/ and that blog also contains a few recipes and links to those two sources for coconut oil.
Hi Nina (nintuv),
You asked what to ask your mom's doctor. Before your next visit, print some internet-information on Alzheimer's and ketosis and bring it to him. We will add such printable information right here for you in the coming week or two.
On your next doctor visit, ask if this kind of therapy is good for your mom. Also ask if coconut oil is the best way to go to achieve this therapy. Coconut oil may be side-effect-free for many people, but it can be dangerous to others. Only your mom's doctor knows for certain.
As for what to buy if your doctor gives you a green light, pure coconut oil is easily available. You can go one better by buying MCT Oil. (MCT is short for medium chain triglycerides.) MCT Oil is the part of the coconut oil that is considered the "active ingredient" in dementia and Alzheimer's therapy. A number of reputable places extract the MCTs from coconut oil to make pure MCT oil. You can pick up MCT Oil pretty easily on health sites.
These MCTs are also the active ingredients in Axona. Axona is the most reputable way to pursue this kind of therapy. Axona is recognized by the FDA as a "Medical Food."
We are in the process of compiling tables comparing these products, including costs, servings, upsides, downsides and such. But at the end of the day, we just organize the information (Disclaimer). Ultimately it will be up to your mom's doctor to determine if these products are appropriate for your mom.
Stay tuned,
Dina
At age 55 my life was turned upside down. My wife of 27 years was diagnosed with Hashimoto Encephalopathy which is under diagnosed and mimics dementia's. As a care giver I know the frustration and the stress. I run a 1500 acre farm, have rented out 200 acres, rented out my sugar beet acreage also, and cut the type of crops I grow to two. Even with the stress that is in farming I can not quit my occupation, because it is my normal world and I need that escape to normality.
My day always starts with making sure the meds are taken right. and this morning the comment that we have been doing this for two years slipped out. The comment back was," two years!?!?" and then tears.
I feel that nutrition has a lot to do with brain health or total body health in general. We as a society will eat supper sized fast foods and wash it down with a diet soft drink on a regular basis. The soft drink (cemicals) could be the most unhealthy part and fat in the food dose not enhance good health ether. As far as coconut oil/dementia's/Alzheimer's I'm willing to try it for a year. Cost is not that great and if it works even 5% wonderful. I just will have to remember not to kiss L right away, I have a deadly allergy to coconut.
Dear Graham,
Thanks for your valuable information regarding benefit of coconut oil(MCT oil)
benefit . If any other update come to your knowledge, kindly update.
Regards.
Rajendra Gandhi
India
I have to agree with Im in line...If it cant hurt you why not try? You will never find "Medical Data" of "Approval" from the FDA on coconut oil because it is a natural substance and cannot be patented like mad made medications and therefore will not find it in medical journals. Coconut oil is great for cooking and does not go rancid when heated on high heat as does vegetable oil. It is also great for your skin...just rub it on. It is still getting into your system. I understand there is no cure for alzheimers but it you can do whatever you can to possibly slow down the process why not? Good nutrition is the missing link these days.....with most of our foods being processed the way they are.
Anecdotal results can both serve to encourage and discourage family members and caregivers. Usually, they only inferentially assist with identifying areas in need of research..........but.........time is a very real commodity for those we love and watch as they fall away. My challenge is to the reasonable skeptic.......search, read, and do not rest or rely on a system challenged by the boundaries of politics and agribusiness. You must make the hard choices. Become skilled in the interpretation of inferential statistics and experimental models....see points of vulnerability on either side of the argument for what they are........areas in need of further clarification or support. Trust is for the faint of heart unwilling to assume any responsibility for the outcome. First do no harm....ok..read the drugs on their chart.............benign is not a casual term to be applied. Look at the losses they must face. If I see possibliity in a path, hope on a horizon, I will go forward.
My father is gone. My mother was diminishing, day by day..........I have her on a modified atkins plan, her blood panels are great. Her mci scores are upward bound. I use coconut products to augment her therapy. She takes simvistatin bid, aricept qd, low dose aspirin qd, cilistrazol bid, tylenol bid, and kepra bid. She lives with me and I know when her abilities wane. She has a mixed profile of vascular dementia, alzheimers, and advanced macular degeneration. Life moves in circles of relevance, what is learned at one point will be required at another..........before mom's decline, I worked with seniors in both placement and protection........as a social worker. Today, I am a daughter working to avoid either situation. I am also a mother who raised a daughter with a seizure disorder; who learned to examine every detail, made hard choices, and today, has a child with a wonderful future, a new baby, is working on a masters in special education, and lives a 'normal' life. My path with her taught me more than any institution could. It taught me to question, require continuity of care, and never back down if those were not evident.
I understand reluctance to explore new concepts.......but the concepts dialogued about here.......are not new. They are simply unpublished for the general market. Start digging. Google, Loren Cordain, Bruce Fife, Michael Eades, Tom Wolfe. Mark Sisson, and Arthur De Vany. You will find many references to the overlap between autoimmune and degenerative disorders and dietary modifications that can have serious benefit. Dig further from their materials and make your own decision. Regect or accept their hypothesis on valid measure or invalid reference. Time is relevant. Do you really want to wait for someone else to decide for you. Respectfully, lyn
What are the common side effects of taking coconut oil in any form?
Why would you need a Doctor to approve of taking coconut oil?
What is the purity %'s of taking regular virgin coconut oil, MCT, or Axona? Can one receive the same beneifts, maybe not in the purity %, but over time, of just taking regular coconut oil as New Kid on the Block did by putting it on or in her husbands food, or by taking a supplement like and MCT or Axona?
There is also a supplement on the market called Resveratrol, which simulates the effects of red wine on bad protein clumps in the brain. Are there any side effects of mixing the usage of Resveratrol with MCT or Axona or regular virgin coconut oil?
I have read that Vitamin C and E also aide in the breakup of the bad clumps of protein in the brain. Would a daily natural dose of each be okay to be combined with the MCT or Axona or Resveratrol?
I am now 52, I am pretty healthy at this point in my life, but my 3 brothers and I watched my father eventually die from the ravages of Alzheimers, He started having symptoms in his mid and late 50's, was in advanced stages by his late 69's, instituitionalized in a Alzheimers care unit till he died at 73. My brothers and I are all in our 50's now, we are all scared of having the genetic disposition to have AD, and we are starting now the process of prevention is the best medicine.
And the coconut oil, the Resveratrol (or drinking lots of red wine), and the Vitamins E and C seem to be the route to go. Why not do this prevention to possibly thwart the onset or start of the dementia before it even begins?
Thanks in advance for all your comments, thank you Dina.
Dogg52
Hi Dogg52,
Glad you found our site. Welcome.
I understand your concern about having a genetic predisposition to developing Alzheimer's. Your choice to work on prevention can only help. A good rule of thumb to follow when thinking about prevention is : what is good for the heart is good for the brain. So before in addition to taking supplements, it is important to also think about lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise of mind and body, rest, stress reduction and the like.
On our site, we have an entire library devoted to prevention. You can get there by going to the top of this page, select the green tab LIBRARY, scroll down to PREVENTION, select it and you will come to a screen with subtitles such as diet, exercise etc. To get there, you can click on this link.
For more information about Axona, coconut oil, MCT oil and other supplements, you can go to our Therapy Library or click on this link.
In general, it is best to check with your doctor before taking supplements as your doctor knows you and your health history best. Coconut oil may be side-effect-free for many people, but it can be dangerous to others. Only you and your doctor can decide together what combination is best for you. Axona is a medical food that is available by prescription only. If you are thinking about Axona as a form of prevention, discuss this with your doctor. You might want to consider MCT oil as a lower cost alternative.
There is research that resveratrol and vitamin supplements such as C and E and D all play a role in prevention. You can read more about this in articles such as:
Beyond Resveratrol: Fighting Acetylation Lowers Dementia's Tau
60 Minutes Explores Remarkable Benefits of Red Wine's Resveratrol
Vitamin D & Dementia - A Clear Link
Vitamin C Dissolves Alzheimer's Plaque
Below each article, there are links to more articles. Be sure to check them out.
When taking supplements, follow the recommendations of your doctor and the manufacturers instructions. Some need to be taken with food, some with certain kinds of food. Ask your doctor for specific instructions.
I applaud your efforts to do what you can to change things! There is a lot of material here to plow through. Take it slow and make small changes one at a time so that they last. Research shows that to make a change and stick to it, you need support. For best results, seek out the support you need in the area you are trying to change.
Keep us posted on your progress,
Dina
I just had a friend who is a nurse tell me about a good friend who had mid-stage Alzheimer's who tried coconut oil and became far more functional with what seems like a complete return of normal memory. So I started searching it. There's a book that looks at this -- http://www.coconutketones.com/ Since it's harmless and actually good for health and cheap, why not try it?
Another interesting thing happened recently with a mouse study where the researchers said that a high dose of the B-vitamin niacinamide reversed Alzheimer's and completely reversed memory loss. Researchers used the word "cure" and were so excited that they have created a human study going at UCLA.
Since it's harmless, why not try it.
The dose for humans would be about 3,000 mg a day, which could be taken most easily by buying slow-release 1,500 mg tablets and taking one at breakfast and one at lunch. I found such a product on the internet, made by Source Naturals.
People need to be careful about this. Please see the MedFriendly.com blog which documents cautions you need to take about the claim that coconut oil can effective treat or cure Alzheimer's disease. The article is available here.
I, a Canadian Naturopath, would like to tell you, half a world away --
the gold-standard double-blind studies haven't done much good as far as drugs for Alzheimer's are concerned. The drugs don't do what they are supposed to do but they do all sorts of nasty things they are not supposed to do. Of course they do a lot of good to Big Pharma.
Coconut oil is food, not a supplement. Google +coconut oil +alzheimer's and be amazed by the number of hits you'll get. Food, NO SIDE EFFECTS. Why NOT try it if there's promise but no risk of side effects. Coconut oil, as I said, is FOOD, not a supplement. It is super food. You are not being kind to your mom if you won't try it.
11/04/2011 Hi Waterbuf,
Welcome to Nurse Dina's Forum.
Much has been posted on this forum and elsewhere on this website about coconut oil and Alzheimer's.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As a Naturopath, I hear your reluctance to use prescription drugs. And, I agree that there are some prescription drugs that have some possible strong side effects. But, as I have learned in my lifetime, sometimes a person needs the RX drugs to survive.
If we had used your naturopath beliefs with my first husband (needed heart transplant), he would never have had those 8 years before he died. The various medications he needed kept him alive during those years.
My Mom has Alzheimer's. She does not take many RX drugs. But, the ones she does definitely have helped her. And, Mom has not had any side effects from the medications.
Re: Your comment that food has no side effects. I almost died from an allergic reaction to some tuna salad I was eating. Spent about 7 hours in hospital ER. My husband has a peanut allergy. He can have a severe allergic reaction to eating peanuts or any products containing peanuts or peanut by-products.
Everyone has to make their own decisions in life. It does not help them if someone comes along and makes statements like you "You are not being kind to your Mom if you won't try it.". It is very stressful dealing with a loved one's Alzheimer's or other type of dementia.
In fairness to everyone --- these forums are here to allow people to state their comments about how they and their loved ones are dealing with Alzheimer's or other dementia. It should be up to the individual to sort through comments from others and determine what is best for their loved ones.
Thank you, Nancy
My wife who is 55 has been diagnosed with AD, the symptoms started presenting themselves some 5/6 years ago.
She has had every test imaginable and been under the care of some of the top Neurologists in our area and the Mayo Clinic in MN at their Alzheimer's Research center. She is also in a clinical trial for a new oral drug. She is and has been on Aricept.
By pure chance I ran into an article on Coconut Oil and it's potential. I immediately went on a quest to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. Once I understood the scientific logic underlying the theory and anecdotal results and once I grasped the economically driven attack on all saturated fats regardless of their chemical composition, I was off to the races.
We started her on a Sunday night and by Tuesday morning at her Neurologist appointment the change was remarkable. This was pure improvement. The actual report from her neuro was astonishing as they do not throw around phrases such as "Marked Improvement". He was clear and adamant. Continue the therapy, its a food product, it will not hurt her.
She has now been on it about 25 days and when our daughter came home from college for Christmas break she saw her mom, started speaking with her and just started crying uncontrollably. Her words were "We have her back".
The clinical trial people were told and they had NO objection as coconut is a food eaten daily by millions of people and the oil she is on is unadulterated and organic.
My personal Dr. is a long time friend of our family and has watched her improve and has read her Neurologists' reports. He is now recommending it to many of his geriatric patients. Her Primary Care is amazed at how much better she looks and how her confidence of prior has returned. She said to us at the last visit "I have my patient of 5 years ago back".
Hi,
Thank you so much for sharing your wife's story, it brought tears to my eyes as I read it. I'm so glad that you tried this and that you have seen such positive results. Stories such as yours are very encouraging to our readers and I am grateful to you for taking the time to relate it.
Please keep writing and let us know how your wife is doing.
Wishing you a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year,
Dina
Hi, I'm a new boy on this site, that is if I can be called boy at 77. My wife "caught" dementia in 2005, on our first visit to see our GP, I was told that memory loss was nothing to worry about!!!! The final diagnosis was in 2007 which was Vascular Dementia, caused by smoking. Aricept was tried and stopped in less than a week due to adverse side effects. She was turned into a zombie, because of the susceptibility to side effects nothing else could be tried. We were then crossed off all lists as there is no treatment and have had no NHS support since then. She deteriorated steadily and by the end of 2009, she was sleeping most of the time, hardly talking and needed to be fed.
In March 2009, there was a locum GP who we saw, who then reviewed my wife's medication which was for a bad back and a bad stomach. Piles of serious pain killers. The GP suggested that the medication was no longer required and over the next three months it was slowly dropped off. She lost 20 lb with no change of diet and her sentences lengthened from three words to ten words. I believe that the pills were a major part of the cause of the dementia.
In a Christmas Card, in December 2009 an Australian cousin sent me details of Dr Mary Newport's report about the benefits to her husband from taking coconut oil. I checked with our GP, I have now checked with three of them and they are in total agreement that it can do no harm, equally they said that it can do no good. I started giving my wife a 20 gr daily dose of coconut oil. This has a melting point of 25 *C and I put it in her morning porridge, I take it as well, I use it instead of butter on my toast and marmalade for breakfast. Either way it is hardly noticed.
Within three months there was a big improvement in my wife. She is much more interested in her surroundings, speaks alot more, enjoys jokes and feeds herself once again albeit with a spoon. My life is much easier now.
I wish that I had known about coconut oil much earlier before the worst of the dementia had made it's mark. I also wish that her medication had been properly reviewed over the years.
Rodge34
I started my dad on coconut oil over a year ago, he didnt even know my mom, and now he still takes 3 tablespoons aday and he knows my mom and talks better and i will now let him go a day without coconut oil and that of course along with prayer. takes about week to start seeing improvement. God gave us the medium chain tryglicerites in the oil , all natural and that is what the brain needs. FDA allows all the sodium in can foods and chemicals in are drinks, i can see why the fda wouldnt verify the oil , they are not making any money off of this.
Joann
Rodge and Joann, so glad you found these Forums. The improvements you report are remarkable and encouraging. Thank you for sharing. Please keep in touch.
Dina
Hello:
I'm new here, discovered this blog trying to learn about coconut oil. It's my Mom I'm trying to help...mild cognitive impairment diagnosis (so far) but she's slipping quickly and the family is in a panic.
I've read this thread out of order, so apologize if this has already been posted here. I'm a grad student so have access to good libraries and went looking for medical studies. I found a 2009 study published in a journal called Nutrition and Metabolism that may be helpful in talking to reluctant doctors or family members: (Nutr Metab (Lond). 2009 Aug 10;6:31. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-6-31)
Study of the ketogenic agent AC-1202 in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Authors: Samuel T Henderson*, Janet L Vogel, Linda J Barr, Fiona Garvin, Julie J Jones and Lauren C Costantini
Excerpt:
"The primary aim of the present study was to assess whether daily dosing of AC-1202 in mild to moderate AD subjects would improve cognitive performance as measured by change from Baseline in the AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog), and global score in the AD Cooperative Study – Clinical Global Impression of Change (ADCS-CGIC) after 90 days.
[....]
AC-1202 is a medium chain triglyceride [MCT] composed of glycerin and caprylic acid (C8:0). [....] The MCT for this study was NeoBee 895® (Stepan Chemical Company). NeoBee 895 is a common food ingredient, made using glycerin from vegetable oil and fatty acids from coconut or palm kernel oil.
[....]
Conclusion: AC-1202 rapidly elevated serum ketone bodies in AD patients and resulted in significant differences in ADAS-Cog scores [a cognitive functioning test] compared to the Placebo. Effects were most notable in APOE4(-) subjects who were dosage compliant."
There's a lot more in the article, of course. The study concluded that coconut oil (in particular, the medium chain triglyceride - MCTs - found in it) IS promising for AD treatment. Most patients in the study also took AD medications, and the article noted it's safe to combine meds and MCT therapy.
p.s. It sure is hard to know what to believe, what to try. The more I look at medical research, the less credence I give it, either when evidence is "missing" or "conclusive". For example, research about Reservatrol which looked so good on paper and was so widely touted has turned out to be B.S. falsified for economic motives - sponsored, in fact, by Napa Valley wine makers. Sheesh!
Hi DHB,
Thanks for bringing that study to our attention. You are right in that many physicians are skeptical about MCTs at best and some discourage people from using it. Each person is different and each person responds differently, but the more scientific studies there are to document improvement, the more support MCT will get in the medical community.
Having said that, your point about what to believe is well taken. Sometimes we see contradicting findings in the research. That can be confusing, but in terms of prevention and health, there are many things that are well documented to help prevent, or slow the progression of dementia. To mention a few:
- exercise of mind and body
- the ketogenic diet
- avoiding foods that cause inflammation
- maintaing an active social life, etc.
To see more about what do know works, you can click here to visit our Prevention Library.
Dina
Aside from a possible food sensitivity to coconut, I wouldn't be afraid of trying it at least for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. After all, it is a food and not a drug so the risk of overdose especially in the short term is virtually nonexistent. If you eat too much you'll get fat. So don't eat too much. It also apparently increases your good HDL cholesterol. So what's your problem? Your hostility and lack of receptivity towards this approach to treating Alzheimer's by addressing a specific metabolic problem through nutrition seems to be partly due to people selling this supplement. Why don't you just go to any health food store in your neighborhood and talk to someone in person who can answer your questions and provide you a high grade all-organic source of coconut oil? Or better yet, do your own research on the Internet. Among the more than 70,000 hits on Google, the following two might be of interest to you.
http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/LJO190v1_WS
http://www.coconutketones.com/whatifcure.pdf
Those who are resistant to new information are often the last to know the truth .
Am a new reader, and caregiver. Interesting comments about coconut oil and Alzheimers. Yes I am using coconut oil in preparing foods, not only for my husband who has been diagnosed with Alzheimers, but for cooking in general. A couple of blogs I have read on this site mention the futility of trying this oil, that it has not been properly tested etc. - and that we can spend so much money on trying this and that, to no good end. In our case, my husband has been prescribed three types of drugs that hopefully would help - and they are very expensive, and also, they did not make any difference in his condition whatsoever. Were they double blind tested?? Who knows. Certainly the only people that did well on this were the drug companies. Coconut oil added to your diet will not hurt anyone, the cost is minimal, and it is a very acceptable food source - and the best part, might even help sufferers of Alzheimers. So substituting coconut oil as your oil of choice in the kitchen is not a huge decision - the only problem I have in Canada, is that it is not readily available, as are corn oil, peanut oil and olive oil. Do you think there is a reason for it not being on the grocery shelf - but perhaps the huge corn oil industry for example, might have something to do with it.
The FDA... is money backed .. money motivated - we must take responsibility for ourselves - this Doctor was driven by love for her husband to research alternative treatment for her husband. I have also done alternative treatment research for a loved one suffering with diabetes and have learned many things of great use. Most doctors are trained in treating the symptoms not finding cures - which by the way are a huge business -
I have joined this for a friend who's husband has been diagnosed with Alzhimers .
I have seen a video on coconut oil and how it can help.
I was wondering how it would effect a diabetic, where to buy it and how much to use.
I know that he is taking some type of medication, and will speak to his doctor before using.
He is 74 on medicare and unable to continue to work.
If it is really something that will help I want to gather info and buy the product for them.
Any advise will be appreciated
Thanks
Cathy
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10/10/2010
My Mom has very advanced Alzheimer's. There is no way I will give her this coconut oil supplement. As far as I am concerned, it has not been proven as a means of stopping and reversing Alzheimer's as your website proclaims the coconut oil can do.
Where are the gold standard blind studies to prove that coconut oil can halt Alzheimer's disease progress and reverse the damage that has been done? Where is the FDA approval of this treatment as a "medical treatment"? If coconut oil is such a great weapon against Alzheimer's, then why haven't the thousands of researchers world-wide arrived at the same conclusion?
I have been a member of the Alzheimer's Weekly forums for a long time. This website is here to help caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer's. It does this by providing us with information into the latest medical research of this dreadful disease. They give us non-medical options on working with our loved ones and their disease. They give us valuable well-documented information concerning supplements -- those that may be working and those that have been proven not to work. The people running this website provide valuable support groups for us caregivers to share what is happening with our loved ones and how to help us deal with the Alzheimer's disease.
As far as I am concerned, the people running Alzheimer's Weekly duty is to provide us with well documented, well proven treatments that may help our loved ones in dealing with their Alzheimer's. I trust Alzheimer's Weekly to provide me with information that will not lead me down a path I do not want to go with my Mom. They give me the information available and I make up my mind how it can or cannot help help.
As far as adverse affects from prescription drugs, the side effects are only one of a many faceted parts of the picture of things a person needs to consider in deciding how best to help their loved one. Also, a lot of the regular over-the-counter things can also cause adverse side effects. A friend of my brother had dental surgery and had to go to a hospital ER the next day because he had taken too many aspirins and he started bleeding which it took a trip to the ER to stop. Look what simple aspirin can do!
Nancy