Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was a Cure?: The Story of Ketones Paperback – April 15, 2013

I saw Dr. Newport on 60 Minutes and was very interested in her medicinal use of Coconut oil. I have been a fan of Coconut oil for YEARS--ever since discovering its many wonderful applications while researching the Internet for a treatment for my husband's toenail fungus. I credit Coconut Oil with raising my good Cholesterol to a very respectable number. I use it as a lotion and I cook my pancakes in it and stir fry my onions and peppers with it. When singing its praises I tell people it reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live skit--it's a dessert topping AND a floor cleaner. OK--but now my interest is more serious. My husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's about five years ago--except that he has never been very typical--he doesn't have a tremor and doesn't seem to respond to the standard Carbidopa/Levodopa medication that is given to most Parkinson's patients. He also has cognitive issues--executive function problems, problems with sequential processes--though his long term and short term memory is better than mine. He is also 75 years old--and so often I feel that his doctors--in their late thirties/early forties--are arrogant and dismissive--with a "what do you expect? He's old" attitude. Couple all of this with my husband's attitude of denial/noninterest--you can probably sense my frustration. We've tried two antidepressants which made him practically catatonic--sleeping even more than he already does. He was put on Namenda for a while and there seemed to be a tiny improvement--but he began having dizzy spells and falling. He decided the Namenda was the problem and with the doctor's permission we stopped it. Again--a little backsliding cognitively--but then it evened out or I got used to it. After that, however, I decided to hit the Internet to see what other people were doing--and came across this book again, began reading it, and decided that we were going to try some therapeutic doses of Coconut oil. We are still working up to the amounts recommended--and we have not had a miraculous improvement--but I do think he is a little better. I think he is more conversant, perhaps more engaged. I am impressed with the logic, the science, behind this approach. I'm very depressed about the roadblocks that have slowed the research. I feel that this is something I can DO that might help my husband. It has helped put a little weight back on him too, I think. He has been steadily shrinking---though much of that I believe is due to muscle atrophy since he doesn't MOVE a lot. I will continue this course for a while and hope for more improvement. I have not quite finished the book, but I am very glad I discovered it.

This is without a doubt the best book on Alzheimer's disease that I've read. My cousin had early onset Alzheimer's and was the poster child for the national Alzheimer's Association in Washington, DC. Our family is keenly interested in literature on the subject, as you can well imagine.What was curious was in her study of Ketoses and its immediate impact on brain function, she didn't mention long term water fasting as a kick-start to coconut oil and MCT. I've done two 26-day water fasts and the brain's clarity and overall improved health are phenomenal. Perhaps because she refers to not eating for a few days starvation, when in fact only when the body has utilized all its fat, as ketone brain fuel is the body technically in starvation, which can be quite sometime depending upon one’s amount of adipose. Or perhaps the stigma of water fasting is unfortunately falsely considered starvation and leaves a physician legally liable.Her day-to-day care for her husband is also a great insight as to what it takes to care for a loved one with this condition. How she managed to write this book, continue her neonatal practice, care for her husband, and attempt to enlighten the U.S. Congress on her first hand experience with her husband's improved care on her protocol is beyond me.Trust me. Big Pharma does not want alternative methods of care for this or any disease for the simple reason that it can’t patent and make astronomical profits on a new drug. The various trade associations albeit Alzheimer’s or cancer also have a vested interest in the pharmaceutical companies because they receive large portions of their budgets and research dollars from this industry. Dr. Newport experienced this firsthand. I also know this firsthand, as I was a lobbyist in Washington, DC. and my husband was a Congressman. The information in Dr. Newport's book is information that Big Pharma would just prefer never reaches the American public or the U.S. Congress.I believe Dr. Newport is on the right path and even though I don’t have any indication of the disease, I believe taking the supplements she suggests along with Dr. Pearlnutter’s (“Brain Maker” book) recommended supplements coupled with a nutritional Ketogentic Diet are on the right path, and even worth a good shot at preventive care.Her firsthand experience with coconut oil and MCTs, however are priceless. Whether or not you have dementia or Alzheimer’s or even a brain injury, also known as a concussion, her book's information is must have reading.