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Age Less / Live More

471: Brain Health Matters with Dr. Dale Bredesen

Age Less / Live More

Lucas Rockwood

Self-improvement, Education

4.81.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2021

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brain Health Matters
Dr. Dale Bredesen 
-------------
The FDA approved a new Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm, and it's estimated to cost medicare $57 billion per year. In the wake of the approval, three FDA advisory panel members resigned and medical professionals, patients, and taxpayers are understably worried.

That's a boatload of cash. Does it even work?

My guest on this week's podcast believes that the approval occurred simply because neurodegenerative diseases are such a huge issue with so few effective treatments. Perhaps the review board felt they needed to green light something? 


In case you didn't know, neurodegenerative diseases are the third leading cause of death worldwide, but unless it's a Hollywood actor or professional athlete that is ill, almost no one talks about brain health.  

Listen & Learn:  

  • Why amyloid plaque is not all bad, and can even be neuroprotective 
  • Why mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is not mild at all 
  • How the "slow reaper" of neurodegenerative diseases makes them easy to overlook  
  • Insulin sensitivity, mild ketosis, fiber and fat for brain health 

Links & Resources

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Dr. Bredesen is an expert in neurodegenerative diseases. He held faculty positions at UCSF, UCLA and the University of California, San Diego. He directed the Program on Aging at the Burnham Institute. He was the founding president/CEO of the Buck Institute. He's the best-selling author of The End of Alzheimer's.


Nutritional Tip of the Week:

  • Pesticides

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Everyone knows what dementia and Alzheimer's diseases are, but many people don't realize

0:08.8

that these and other neurodegenerative diseases are the number three, number three killer,

0:14.4

in the world.

0:15.4

So heart disease cancer, neurodegenerative illnesses, things like dementia and Alzheimer's.

0:21.8

And in June 2021, the US FDA approved a new drug called adahelm, and specifically for

0:28.0

treating Alzheimer's, potential clients, 6.2 million Americans.

0:34.2

Here's the challenge.

0:35.2

Doesn't work very well.

0:36.2

Bigger challenge costs a fortune, over $50,000 per year.

0:40.0

The burden, a lot of which will fall on Medicare.

0:42.6

Who's going to come up with, how are the states going to come up with this money?

0:45.3

How are local and federal jurisdictions going to cover this?

0:48.9

Nobody really knows.

0:50.7

And the follow-out from this has been really massive.

0:53.7

There have been three FDA resignations since the approval.

0:58.6

Both patients and medical doctors are protesting.

1:01.9

Some people are happy.

1:02.9

Some people are angry.

1:03.9

It's very controversial.

1:04.9

Why did this get greenlighted?

1:06.0

I don't know.

1:07.0

I don't know enough about drug approval processes.

...

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