NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT ADVISOR
Alzheimer's and Natural Treatments; Lion's Mane Mushrooms
QUESTION:
Dear Garden of Healing® Supplement Advisor:
Is Amyloid toxicity a measure for Alzheimers? What is the connection between Alzheimer's, Dementia and the Lion's Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceum)?
ANSWER:
We need a new starting point for developing therapeutic compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
The number of people with Alzheimer's is expected to triple over the next three to four decades. New treatments and prevention for the disease are urgently needed.
A focus on Amyloid plaques might be a good place to start in understanding AD.
Amyloid plaques are abnormal protein fragments that collect in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Are there natural compounds that could clear away these plaques? What other approaches could be used to prevent nerve cell death, and also prevent the formation of fibrillary tangles in the brain?
Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are thought to contribute to the degradation of nerve cells, and this in turn causes the subsequent symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Amyloid is a protein that deposits in the body's cells and may accumulate between the neurons as we age. This build up of Amyloid protein is termed amyloid toxicity, and is thought to produce neuronal cell death in the patient's brain, causing loss of memory and, in the latter stages, dementia.
Conventional approaches to treating Alzheimer's disease involve the use of pharmaceuticals to treat the symptoms caused by the death of these neurons.
Currently on the market and approved by the FDA are the drugs: Aricept by Pfizer, Exelon by Novartis, Reminyl by Janssen, and Cognex by First Horizon. But, none of these drugs reverses the damage done to cognitive functioning; they only delay further deterioration.
Natural, therapeutic compounds to support the survival of nerve and brain cells
A compound in the medicinal mushroom Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceum) shows evidence of promoting nerve cell survival, and may also stimulate the production of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the brain.
Keep your eye out for new information about these two specific items:
1) The substance amyloban
2) Other active compounds called hericenones isolated from the fruit body of Lion's Mane.
These are both found in the same mushroom, Lion's Mane.
Outside of research performed on mice, there is not a lot of hard evidence at this early stage, but there are supplements on the market made from Lion's Mane containing amyloban and hericenones.
To date, no consistent results have emerged from various studies having been completed, and further research needs to be undertaken to find the safest and most effective treatments.
It's exciting to think that some day natural substances like those from medicinal mushrooms could be at the forefront of alleviating the devastating symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
© 1996-2009 Mark Isaac Thyss/Garden of Healing®. All rights reserved.
For more articles and recipes leading to natural health and healing, please visit:
http://www.thegardenofhealing.com/
Become a SelfcarePro! Your Nutritional Edge, Foods, Fitness, Best Healthcare & Spa Destinations; for Product Reviews, Articles, Interviews & Celebrity Exposes, visit:
http://www.selfcarepro.com/
Alzheimer's and Natural Treatments; Lion's Mane Mushrooms
QUESTION:
Dear Garden of Healing® Supplement Advisor:
Is Amyloid toxicity a measure for Alzheimers? What is the connection between Alzheimer's, Dementia and the Lion's Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceum)?
ANSWER:
We need a new starting point for developing therapeutic compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
The number of people with Alzheimer's is expected to triple over the next three to four decades. New treatments and prevention for the disease are urgently needed.
A focus on Amyloid plaques might be a good place to start in understanding AD.
Amyloid plaques are abnormal protein fragments that collect in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Are there natural compounds that could clear away these plaques? What other approaches could be used to prevent nerve cell death, and also prevent the formation of fibrillary tangles in the brain?
Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are thought to contribute to the degradation of nerve cells, and this in turn causes the subsequent symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Amyloid is a protein that deposits in the body's cells and may accumulate between the neurons as we age. This build up of Amyloid protein is termed amyloid toxicity, and is thought to produce neuronal cell death in the patient's brain, causing loss of memory and, in the latter stages, dementia.
Conventional approaches to treating Alzheimer's disease involve the use of pharmaceuticals to treat the symptoms caused by the death of these neurons.
Currently on the market and approved by the FDA are the drugs: Aricept by Pfizer, Exelon by Novartis, Reminyl by Janssen, and Cognex by First Horizon. But, none of these drugs reverses the damage done to cognitive functioning; they only delay further deterioration.
Natural, therapeutic compounds to support the survival of nerve and brain cells
A compound in the medicinal mushroom Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceum) shows evidence of promoting nerve cell survival, and may also stimulate the production of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the brain.
Keep your eye out for new information about these two specific items:
1) The substance amyloban
2) Other active compounds called hericenones isolated from the fruit body of Lion's Mane.
These are both found in the same mushroom, Lion's Mane.
Outside of research performed on mice, there is not a lot of hard evidence at this early stage, but there are supplements on the market made from Lion's Mane containing amyloban and hericenones.
To date, no consistent results have emerged from various studies having been completed, and further research needs to be undertaken to find the safest and most effective treatments.
It's exciting to think that some day natural substances like those from medicinal mushrooms could be at the forefront of alleviating the devastating symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
© 1996-2009 Mark Isaac Thyss/Garden of Healing®. All rights reserved.
For more articles and recipes leading to natural health and healing, please visit:
http://www.thegardenofhealing.com/
Become a SelfcarePro! Your Nutritional Edge, Foods, Fitness, Best Healthcare & Spa Destinations; for Product Reviews, Articles, Interviews & Celebrity Exposes, visit:
http://www.selfcarepro.com/
