Research and the Bredesen Protocol

The well known FINGER Study published in 2015 recruited 1260 older adults in Finland with increased risk of dementia “’Both the intervention group and the so-called placebo group, where we gave regular health advice, improved during the two years’, said Dr. Miia Kivipelto, MD, principal investigator and professor at Karolinska Institutet. ‘But the improvement was much higher in the intervention group, in all of the [cognitive] sub-domains: executive function for [information] processing (how quickly people are able to do different tasks) and complex memory tasks. And the risk of cognitive decline was 30% higher for the control group compared to the intervention group.’”

• This evidence from the 2015 FINGER Study the has now developed into a World-Wide multi-site study called WW-FINGERS which states: “The FINGER trial is the first randomized controlled trial showing that it is possible to prevent cognitive decline using a multi-domain lifestyle intervention among older at-risk individuals. The results highlighted the value of addressing multiple dementia risk factors as a strategy to protect brain health, and promote overall health and functioning.”

• UC Berkeley in California was awarded a US$47 million grant to include imaging for their arm of the FINGER Study called US-POINTER, which is a US$35 million Alzheimer’s Association sponsored 2 year study across multiple sites in the USA.

The 2017 Train the Brain Study in Italy of 113 MCI subjects aged 65–89 years
States: “In conclusion, a non pharmacological, combined physical and cognitive training in a social setting improves cognitive status of MCI subjects and improves indicators of brain health. The improvement is a small effect size. However, as pointed out by Ngandu et al.17, even small size effects in these initial stages may result in considerable gains in terms of public health. This underscores the importance of interventions aimed at multiple lifestyle factors as possible strategies to reduce or delay dementia conversion in MCI subjects, thus reducing dementia incidence.”
Maffei, L. et al. Randomized trial on the effects of a combined physical/cognitive training in aged MCI subjects: the Train the Brain study. Sci. Rep. 7, 39471; doi: 10.1038/srep39471 (2017).

A 2011 study “Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory” in the USA
States in the abstract: “The hippocampus shrinks in late adulthood, leading to impaired memory and increased risk for dementia. Hippocampal and medial temporal lobe volumes are larger in higher-fit adults, and physical activity training increases hippocampal perfusion, but the extent to which aerobic exercise training can modify hippocampal volume in late adulthood remains unknown. Here we show, in a randomized controlled trial with 120 older adults, that aerobic exercise training increases the size of the anterior hippocampus, leading to improvements in spatial memory. Exercise training increased hippocampal volume by 2%, effectively reversing age-related loss in volume by 1 to 2 y. We also demonstrate that increased hippocampal volume is associated with greater serum levels of BDNF, a mediator of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Hippocampal volume declined in the control group, but higher preintervention fitness partially attenuated the decline, suggesting that fitness protects against volume loss.”

Kirk I. Erickson, Michelle W. Voss, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, Chandramallika Basak, Amanda Szabo, Laura Chaddock, Jennifer S. Kim, Susie Heo, Heloisa Alves, Siobhan M. White, Thomas R. Wojcicki, Emily Mailey, Victoria J. Vieira, Stephen A. Martin, Brandt D. Pence, Jeffrey A. Woods, Edward McAuley, Arthur F. Kramer
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2011, 108 (7) 3017-3022; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015950108

The World Health Organisation recognises and provides recommendations on risk factors and lifestyle behaviours and interventions to “delay or prevent cognitive decline and dementia” including: physical activity, nutrition, cognitive training, weight management, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, etc.