Can An Oil From the Coconut Tree Help Alzheimer’s?

I'm a follower of Carol Bradley Bursack on Minding Our Elders website, as she is very knowledgeable as well as understanding of this disease and the caregiver's day-to-day life.
http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/54266/coconut-alzheimer?ic=6002



Can An Oil From the Coconut Tree Help Alzheimer’s?
by Carol Bradley Bursack
Monday, January 05, 2009

Dr. Mary Newport, who has spent her practice taking care of babies, is also the wife of a man with early-onset Alzheimer's. Newport contacted me and asked if she could send me an article, along with some links to newspaper stories, about an oil found in the coconut tree and its effects on Alzheimer's disease. I said sure. I'm always happy to learn about new ideas in development.



When the article arrived, I was impressed by how promising this sounds and excited that there may be one more product, already available, that could protect brains and even help the quality of life of those with Alzheimer's disease.



Newport was researching two new drugs her husband was a candidate to try, when she found a third drug that sounded even better. While most Alzheimer's drugs aim toward slowing the progression of Alzheimer's, this third one actually showed memory improvement. With further research, Newport discovered the medication's primary ingredient was an oil composed of medium chain triglycerides, known as MCT oil.



With further research, Newport found that non-hydrogenated coconut oil is more than 60 percent MCT oil, and this new medication derived its MCT oil from the coconut tree. We've read for years that hydrogenated coconut oil is bad for us. It was once used in many packaged foods, but because of heart-health considerations, the oil has been often been replaced with healthier fats. However, non-hydrogenated oil is a whole different ball game.



Newport's published article, which can be found on her new Web site at http://coconutketones.com, will tell you all about the science behind the MCI oil and its relationship to Alzheimer's. There are also links to several newspaper articles written about her and her research on MCT oil. She is also beginning a blog, which may be up and running by the time you read this. If it's not, it will be soon. The blog link is also on the Web site.



The featured article, titled "What If There Was a Cure for Alzheimer's Disease...and No One Knew?," is written with the knowledge that not everyone reading it is a scientist. I think most people will be drawn into the story of this couple and the quest of this doctor to help her husband and others with Alzheimer's disease.



MCT oil is certainly something to watch. This is a product that is available now. It helped Newport's husband recover some functions he had lost - at least temporarily. How much more can it do? Time and studies will tell. However, Newport is enough of a believer that she is aggressively plowing forward with her efforts to get the word out. We can hope she's onto something huge.



To learn more about Carol, please go to www.mindingourelders.com or www.mindingoureldersblogs.com.

WHAT IF THERE WAS A CURE FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND NO ONE KNEW?
A Case Study by Dr. Mary Newport July 22, 2008
There is a growing epidemic of obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and predictions that 15,000,000 people in the United States alone will have Alzheimer’s
Disease by the year 2050.
In 2001, Dr. Richard L. Veech of the NIH, and others, published an article entitled, “Ketone
bodies, potential therapeutic uses.”1 In 2003, George F. Cahill, Jr. and Richard Veech authored, “Ketoacids? Good Medicine?”2 and in 2004, Richard Veech published a review of the therapeutic implications of ketone bodies.
3 These articles are not found in journals that the average physician would read, much less the lay public. Unless you are researching
the topic, it is unlikely that you would ever randomly come across this information.

http://www.coconutketones.com/whatifcure.pdf

Dr.

Promising drug fights Alzheimer's in three ways

WASHINGTON - A type of drug that may offer promise in treating Alzheimer's disease works in three ways to fight the formation of "plaques" in the brain that are a hallmark of the ailment, scientists said on Wednesday.

The researchers looked at a kind of drug called a gamma-secretase modulator, or GSM, now being tested to see if it slows Alzheimer's disease progression.

One GSM drug now being tested in people with Alzheimer's is Myriad Genetics's Flurizan, also called tarenflurbil.

To read more of this new study:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25100491/

The Future

I am posting this blog from a sweet lady named Mary Canada from ALZTalk.org.

The Future

6:38 AM on Mar. 13, 2008

Once in awhile I'll let myself think about the future, and what it's going to be like, if the cure doesn't arrive soon. I've chatted to enough caregivers over the past two years, and heard what their loved ones are going through....to know what exactly is ahead for me and many others, if the cure isn't soon here. A friend sent me this lovely website that I'd like to share with you.

http://www.parentswish.com

http://www.alzinfo.org/alztalk/blog_entry.php?user=MaryCanada&blogentry_id=17

**this is the very reason why I am committed to being the caregiver to my Mother. Many blessing to all who have this path to walk before them.

With much love and respect,

Rainbow