Psuedoscience or Psuedoexperts?

By Dale Bredesen, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer for Apollo Health

Have you seen the guy on Instagram who claims that there are zero cases of Alzheimer’s in Israel (which is a complete fabrication), and if you’ll just buy his potion, you too can avoid Alzheimer’s? Or the clickbait that claims, “Alzheimer’s begins when you can’t say this word”? Of course we know — from blood biomarkers, spinal fluid biomarkers, PET scans, SPECT scans, ASL (arterial spin labeling), and neuropsychological testing — that Alzheimer’s pathophysiology begins a few decades before a diagnosis, sometimes even as early as the teens or twenties. Everywhere we look, someone wants to sell us a new snake oil “cure” for Alzheimer’s — we are awash in the pseudoscience of cognitive enhancement.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, are the pseudoexperts, the university leaders who tell us with complete confidence —and more than a modicum of pomp, harumphing, and tut-tutting— that there is nothing that will prevent, reverse, or delay Alzheimer’s cognitive decline — oh, except the pseudo-breakthrough drugs that have failed to improve cognition despite billions of dollars of clinical trials (drugs that are marketed by the pharmaceutical companies paying the pseudoexperts). These pseudoexperts even try to intimidate patients who ask about published data showing far better results than the drug trials.

Therefore, we all face an important decision — one that will likely impact our lifespans, healthspans, and brainspans: where does each of us stand in the continuum between the pseudoscience and the pseudoexperts? Do we believe in the various claims about diet and lifestyle? Peptides? Stem cells? Ketones? Creatine? Anti-amyloid antibodies? Anti-tau antibodies? Mycotoxins? Leaky gut? Nitric oxide? Bartonella? Oral spirochetes? And hundreds of other issues like these. It is far too much information to expect anyone — even researchers and clinicians — to digest and translate to an optimal clinical outcome for each unique person. So perhaps A.I. may be the answer? Certainly not yet — I just asked A.I. for the most effective approach to Alzheimer’s, and the answer generated was provably false. (Singularity?? Ha!)

So we need two separate, ongoing efforts: first, of course we need basic and clinical research that will continue to provide new insights into the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and ultimately lead to cures and uniformly effective prevention. This is becoming increasingly difficult with the government’s moves to politicize science and research support, unfortunately, so much of this will need to come from other, more enlightened nations. Second, however, we must always have access to physicians whose sole goal is the best outcome for each and every person. This would seem to be obvious — it seems like a “Well, duh, that is what medicine should always be!” moment, but remarkably, that axiomatic goal has been adulterated by finances, politics, egos, lack of optimal training, and tradition. Achieving the best outcome for each person is a moving target, advancing each month as new data arrive, new trials are completed, and new discoveries are made. It also involves community, organization, and dissemination, strategizing to encourage prevention and earlier treatment so that we can all reduce the societal burden of neurodegenerative disease.

This is what the precision medicine that we have utilized in our clinical trials offers, and we are constantly evaluating each new diagnostic and therapeutic for legitimacy and efficacy—not whether some bloviator has blessed it, but whether it really helps the many people in need. So no one needs to be duped by the pseudoscience, or denied by the pseudoexperts — my goal is to ensure that each of us will be informed about what works best, where to go to get the best outcome, and how to keep up with all of the advances, through the clinical trials, documented patient success, guides, blogs, books, and social posts. The era of untreatable neurodegenerative disease is over, and we can all now work together to reduce the global burden of neurodegeneration.