Alzheimer's Drug Might End the Need for Fillings

News of the weird or something pretty awesome? The Telegraph is reporting on a new study indicating that an Alzheimer's drug based on stem cell research still in clinical trials appears to regrow teeth and repair tooth decay. Not only that, it can do it quickly—within 6 weeks! Sounds awesome to me but, of course, clinical trials need to be done to make sure it's safe.

Sleep Deprivation Linked to Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

Links don't always indicate which came first: the chicken or the egg. Is a tendency not to sleep much at night an indicator of early-stage dementia OR the cause of dementia later in life? Sleep scientists suspect the later!

In addition to Alzheimer's Disease, people who get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep at night also seem to be at significantly greater risk for cancer, diabetes, obesity and poor mental health. Lack of adequate sleep has a horrific effect on the immune system. It makes it difficult to fully process and heal from emotional upsets, it raises your blood pressure, and leads to problems with anger management and depression. It also impairs a vast array of significant bodily processes including your brain's ability to clear the brain cell killing amyloid plaque build-ups associated with Alzheimer's Disease!

So, if you're reading this late at night, go to bed! Make it a habit to have a nice luxurious guilt-free nap or earlier bedtime part of your every day routine. You'll be SO glad you did!

Eliminate Sugar to Greatly Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Giving up sugar will not eliminate ALL Alzheimer's Disease but according to a recent study cited in this article in Psychology Today, 80% of all Alzheimer's patients have insulin resistance or type 2 Diabetes. In fact, Alzheimer's Disease is now being called Type 3 Diabetes or insulin resistance of the brain. The Psychology Today article says "preventing Alzheimer's Disease is easier than you think" -- just give up sugar! Well, that's not so easy, especially if you have developed a dependency. Sugar is highly addictive and if you or someone you love is lonely or depressed, giving up that legal sweet comfort can be highly problematic! But well worth doing. Substitute fruit for sugary desserts, whole foods for all refined carbohydrates, go out for a walk, do something with the grandkids or volunteer. And some of my last suggestions are the most important. Science shows that happier people are far less likely to succumb to addiction and have a far easier time letting go of an addiction that has already been installed.

The Science Behind How Sugar Consumption Affects Your Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease

Watching a family member slowly kill his brain function with sugar has brought the sugar - Alzheimer's issue into sharp relief for me! Nearly EVERY Alzheimer's patient wants to eat nothing but sugar and other carbs that easily convert to glucose at some point in the progression of this disease. And the Alzheimer's / diabetes connection is very clear: one frequently leads to the other but it's not clear which comes first—diabetes or early stage Alzheimer's. I think it is excessive sugar consumption either way. This article gets into the latest research.

Fight Against Trump and Paul Ryan's Attempt to Destroy Obamacare and Replace it with Health Savings Accounts

I rarely post on this blog anymore and I once made a vow not to turn it into something political. . .  but I've been pushed over the edge.

I used to work in the field of senior services, helping people who were taking care of a family member with dementia. I heard MANY MANY stories of people inches away from bankruptcy. One major medical emergency sent people over the edge -- and most of these were people WITH health insurance. Medical emergency is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in this country. THIS is the issue I am most able to gather the anger and courage and strength to stand up for: affordable healthcare for all and preservation (if not expansion) of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I'm sharing the next part of this post from a friend because it is essential that people understand what is going down if we don't fight for it. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!

In case you're not aware of what a Health Savings Account (HSA) is or how it works, please read:

When Trump or Paul Ryan say they want to replace the ACA with "Health Savings Accounts" (HSAs), they are saying they want to replace Obamacare or Medicare or Medicaid with YOU paying for your healthcare. That means YOU pay for chemotherapy... YOU pay for all surgeries and hospitalization... YOU pay for all your family's doctor visits, urgent care, ER visits, and prescription drugs out-of-pocket.

A Health Savings Account is just a tax-free way for you to save up money to pay for your own medical bills. So if you are paying off college loans, or saving for a house down-payment, or simply living paycheck to paycheck, guess what -- a Health Savings Account does you no good, because you have no discretionary funds to deposit into it. And even if you manage to save five grand or ten grand in an HSA, that could all get wiped out in one hospital visit for you or a family member. Then you are back to square zero again.

Even if you can supplement your HSA with affordable health insurance, you will be eating away at money that you should be investing for your retirement or your kids' college tuition. Only the top 3-5% of Americans can save enough for retirement, college AND their own out-of-pocket medical expenses. Therefore, the tax benefits of HSA's only help those people. Please call your Congressperson to protest this. And share the information to everyone you know.