Epic Fail: After Wasting Billions Annually on Drugs to Curb Alzheimer’s, Dementia Expert Says War on Alzheimer’s Has Been a Costly Failure
The Growing Unfettered, Mindless Health Crisis
Americans are spending more than $226 billion annually to treat the symptoms Alzheimer’s and dementia, instead of the disease itself. According to an estimate by the Alzheimer’s’ Association, this figure will skyrocket to $1 trillion by 2050.
Every 67 seconds someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and there are around 5.3 million people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. Most diagnosed are in the age range of 65 years or older. The number of diagnosed people will increase dramatically as baby boomers reach their “Golden Years.”
According to a report published by Forbes magazine, around 95% of the experimental medicines studied fail to be effective or safe. The report also revealed the stats that a company hoping to get a single drug to the market can expect to have spent $350 million before even the medicine is available for sale. At least, $5 billion is spent on each new medicine since large pharmaceutical companies work on dozens of drug projects at a time.
We Must Use Our Brains To Solve This Growing Epidemic
Although billions have been spent to fight Alzheimer’s, no pharmaceutical company has yet to crack the code in developing an effective medicine that can treat Alzheimer’s, let alone stop it. Unfortunately, no hospital ever makes an effort to make a patient and their family aware that treatment options are not the only route to help patients. According to Professor David Smith, a top dementia expert from Oxford University, tackling Alzheimer’s disease beforehand is the key to stopping or retarding its progression.
With prevention as the key component to avoiding illness, it is a wonder as why does the healthcare system wait until an irreversible symptom rears its ugly head? The wise people will live in a constant state of prevention while others will wait for symptoms so the healthcare system can do what they do best: react.
Why Can’t Doctors Prescribe Prevention?
Although there is not a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, one can slow down the progress of the illness by making healthier lifestyle choices, adds the doctor. Some of the lifestyle choices that will help a patient suffering from Alzheimer’s disease involve sleeping enough, eating well, regularly exercising and keeping the brain active and regularly challenged. Here are four things that are critical to pushing back against the possible inevitability of Alzheimer’s:
- Healthy Diet
Your brain health is dependent on the quality of food you eat. A proper diet can influence your genes’ health for good. Researchers have shown that a Mediterranean type of diet is best for better memory. Eating foods that are high in antioxidants is an excellent way to eliminate free radicals from your body.
- Stress Management
Eliminating or minimizing stress is a crucial strategy to counteracting the disease process. Studies have shown a direct correlation between inflammatory conditions – high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high cortisol and the onset of disease.
- Physical & Brain Exercise
Regular physical and mental exercise can dramatically reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. That means an overall active lifestyle is an ultimate key to brain and body health.
- Medicine
Presently medicines are helpful in improving one’s symptoms temporarily, but have no effect on the progression curing the dastardly disease. You should carefully consider and follow what your physician prescribes you, and if you are getting nowhere with their approach, then consider a 2nd opinion from a doctor who is well versed in integrated medicine.
Although there are no medicines or a silver bullet that can prevent a disease progression once it is diagnosed, however with proactive management the progression of the disease can be better managed to a large extent.
Reader – What preventative measures will you take to prevent or slow the development of Alzheimer’s Disease?
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(H/T) Top Alzheimer’s Expert Reveals: We’ve Wasted Billions on Drugs When All We Needed Was Prevention