Dr. Lewis is the CEO and founder of RealHealth Clinics, and has spent years researching and developing alternative treatments for the condition. Despite the fact that amyloid plaques and the "amyloid cascade" hypothesis have been the cornerstone of Alzheimer's disease research for decades, Lewis believes that other forces are at play. Other experts have also begun to question the amyloid dogma -- and for good reason.
Amyloid plaques and Alzheimer's disease
As sources explain, the current accepted theory about Alzheimer's goes like so: Beta amyloid, a protein fragment, accumulates in the brain and forms clumps of amyloid plaque. This plaque is believed to destroy synapses, cause nerve cell death and ultimately, impair brain function.
The theory sounds good on paper, but as Dr. Lewis explains, there are some glaring problems with this hypothesis.
And as sources report, more than 100 amyloid-targeting drugs have been tested in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; all have failed. Researchers have even tried using these drugs in milder cases of dementia, still to no avail. Now, rather than admit their prevailing theory is wrong, Big Pharma is looking to employ totally healthy people as their guinea pigs. If amyloid plaques were the problem, the drugs should have offered at least some benefit. Further, giving healthy people drugs to prevent a disease they don't have, ultimately, won't even provide substantiating proof of concept, anyways -- not that a lack of convincing evidence has ever stopped Big Pharma before.
More, Dr. Lewis explained at a recent summit, there are many cases of Alzheimer's disease in which no amyloid plaques are present. This alone is a bit of a red flag; after all, if the plaques are the only thing that causes Alzheimer's, they should be present in all patients.
This finding, at the very least, suggests that there is more than one cause of Alzheimer's.
Even more interesting is the finding that amyloid plaque is often present in the brains of individuals not affected by Alzheimer's disease.
As Dr. Lewis notes further, research by Harvard University has shown that beta amyloid is actually part of the immune system response. This, he posits, could mean that amyloid plaques may actually play a protective role in the brain. Instead of causing Alzheimer's, the accumulation of beta amyloid may be a sign that something else is going awry.
So, the drugs designed to target the "cause" of Alzheimer's do nothing to actually help treat the disease, and studies have indicated that amyloid plaque, at the very least, is not the only factor that contributes to it, either. It is no wonder that experts like Dr. Lewis propose that perhaps another factor is at play.
Indeed, it would seem that like other conditions, Alzheimer's disease can be triggered by an array of causes. Dr. Lewis notes, however, that inflammation is virtually always present. He posits that environmental toxins, stress, poor nutrition, lack of sleep and bacterial and viral infections can all play a role in the onset of the disease.
Research has shown that prescription drugs and vaccines can also contribute to the development of Alzheimer's. All things considered, it's clear that the way mainstream medicine currently looks at Alzheimer's disease is misguided. You can learn more at Dementia.news.
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