Dementia and Cognitive Decline

My father gave me my first close-up of one of the kinds of Dementias. There are about 5-6, including Alzheimer's. My dad had a stroke and several TIA's, or Transient Ischemic Attacks, and suffered with vascular dementia, having short term memory loss. He had 'malignant hypertension', a fancy name for high blood pressure that comes on suddenly. Even as a kid I remember seeing a blood vessel in his temple that stood out when he would get irate about something. Perhaps trying to have a dozen children (he had ten) was his nemesis.

Treating high blood pressure reminds me of witch doctors and blood letting, because it is not a science. Too many doctors put their trusting patients on one blood pressure med after another, upping the dose of one, adding another, switching to another, giving one med that does one action and another that does the opposite, or prescribing two that do the same action, which is very dangerous. A friend of mine here in town actually had a substitute Pharmacist give him a different blood pressure medication, without a doctor's change in prescription. My friend was awake for two nights, and thought he was going to die. **Always have a pharmacist you can trust. I recommend Don West of Lloyd Center Pharmacy in Portland, Oregon: They are a compounding pharmacy, that treat people as individuals, not one-size-fits-all.
 38 East Burnside Street
Portland, OR 97214-1108
(503) 281-4161


Natural solutions to maintaining blood pressure are: walking or mild exercise (my dad walked 5 miles a day for years, which creates other pathways for blood vessels and oxygenates the blood. He lived to 85. He would have lived longer if not for the malpractice and maltreatment, including a plethora of drugs,  at the institution where he ended up in.)

Staying hydrated to avoid sludge blood is important, and avoid chlorinated water in general (clogged arteries). It's important to stay on the alkaline side, with lots of greens and fruits and veggies and whole grains, little meat, wild salmon, etc. ALFALFA is a natural anti-inflammatory, and provides a host of micro-minerals not found in other plants. It is extremely alkalinizing.  I get the 700 bottle, and  make a comforting tea out of 5 or so, with 2 drops of Stevia or a little honey. You can see the chlorophyll. I just swallow the other 5. Some people take 20-30 alfalfa a day for arthritis, and to counteract all the processed foods, stress and meds that acidify us. (There is a new study showing most people with diabetes have high uric acid.)

Food supplements shown by study to lower blood pressure are garlic (which naturally thins blood, also), fish oil-which changes the viscosity of the blood and is good for the brain, also, and flax seed oil. You can grind brown flax seeds in an inexpensive coffee grinder fresh, and add to your cereal, smoothies, breads, pancakes and muffins, etc. A trucker friend of mine had to pass his CDL medical, and he had high blood pressure from the time he was a teenager. He took flax seed oil and passed the test. He also got off the coffee and Pepsi he was chugging and ate better when  he was on my watch. (It's good to have someone at your back.)

Vivix is rich with resveratrol, and has been shown to thin blood, protect DNA, generate new mitochondria to create energy-which we lose as we age, and it strengthens the blood vessels. This is especially important for those with diabetes, with blood vessels behind the eye that need protecting. People on Coumadin have had to have it lowered as the Vivix did the job. Coumadin has several possible nasty side effects to be aware of: blood clots, gangrene and cognitive decline. Natural solutions tend to be devoid of side effects, severe withdrawals that can be harmful or fatal, and are cost effective for optimal health.

Here is a great article on Cognitive Decline and the role of the B vitamins-and the importance of their sustained release delivery, with the intrinsic factors necessary for bodily use. You may know more than your doctor about B vitamins and cognitive decline after reading this article. I became aware during my cancer how narrowly trained many medical doctors are, and that many do NOT keep up on recent studies. I found it unsettling to have to do research, so I could hand my pelvic oncologist the abstract of a study showing a blood marker for my cancer was available and important. Though she argued with me, the first thing from her mouth when she visited me post-surgery was "you were right".