#512: Alzheimer's Disease – Drs. Ayesha & Dean Sherzai
Sigma Nutrition Radio
Danny Lennon
4.8 • 633 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2024
⏱️ 70 minutes
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Summary
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About This Episode:
Alzheimer's disease has a profound impact on individuals, families, and societies worldwide. As a progressive neurodegenerative disease, it not only robs individuals of their cognitive abilities but also places an immense emotional and economic burden on caregivers.
Mechanistically, the causes of Alzheimer's are incredibly complex and not fully understood. And in terms of treatment, the landscape appears challenging. Drug discovery efforts for dementias, including Alzheimer's, have faced setbacks, leaving a void in effective treatments. Consequently, attention has shifted toward preventive strategies, including dietary patterns.
From a prevention standpoint, both genetics and lifestyle should be considered. Which throws up many interesting questions…
To what extent do genetic factors contribute to Alzheimer's risk compared to lifestyle choices, and how does this interaction influence disease development?
What role does lifestyle play in Alzheimer's risk, and is there evidence supporting the influence of specific nutrients on cognitive health?
How do diet patterns impact Alzheimer's risk? Are there discernible risk differences associated with specific dietary choices, and how do these interact with genetic factors, such as the ApoE genotype?
In this episode, Drs. Ayesha Sherzai and Dean Sherzai are on the podcast to answer these questions and discuss this topic in more depth.
About The Guests:
Dr. Ayesha Sherzai is a neurologist and co-director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Program at Loma Linda University, where she leads the Lifestyle Program for the Prevention of Neurological Diseases. She completed a dual training in Preventative Medicine and Neurology at Loma Linda University, and a fellowship in Vascular Neurology and Epidemiology at Columbia University. She is also a trained plant-based culinary artist.
Dr. Dean Sherzai is co-director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Program at Loma Linda University. Dean trained in Neurology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and completed fellowships in neurodegenerative diseases and dementia at the National Institutes of Health and UC San Diego. He also holds a PhD in Healthcare Leadership with a focus on community health from Andrews University.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to another episode of Sigma Nutrition Radio. This is episode 512 of the podcast. You're very welcome. My name is Danny Lennon, and today we're going to be talking all about Alzheimer's disease. We're going to be looking at what we currently know about some of its causes, how that understanding has developed over time, the current state of the evidence there, moving into things like potential treatments at the moment. |
| 0:39.0 | And of course, within that piece around lifestyle, we'll make some reference to diet, |
| 0:43.8 | what we know on the current evidence of how diet interacts to either increase or decrease |
| 0:48.3 | risk, both at the level of dietary patterns, but also maybe specific nutrients. |
| 0:54.0 | And so to walk through this area of literature, I'm delighted to be joined by of dietary patterns, but also maybe specific nutrients. |
| 0:54.3 | And so to walk through this area of literature, I'm delighted to be joined by doctors Aisha |
| 0:59.4 | Sherzai and Dean Sherzai today on the podcast, who are both co-directors of the Alzheimer's Prevention |
| 1:05.4 | Program at Loma Linda University and have extensive backgrounds in medicine and research related to what we're going to be |
| 1:13.0 | discussing today. For Dr. Aisha Shurzai, she has a fellowship in vascular neurology and |
| 1:19.0 | epidemiology from Columbia University as well as a whole host of impressive background and research, |
| 1:23.7 | which I'm sure we'll discuss. And for Dr. Dean, Scherzai, he was trained in neurology and went |
| 1:28.9 | on to complete fellowships in neurodegenerative diseases specifically at the NIH and at UCSD. |
| 1:35.7 | So we'll have two experts incredibly well versed in both the literature as well as what's going on |
| 1:40.6 | on the front lines to talk through this issue of Alzheimer's disease, which |
| 1:45.6 | given both its prevalence and the consequences of it has impacted us in many ways, and no doubt |
| 1:52.3 | we've known someone relatively close to us who has suffered the consequences of that or |
| 1:57.7 | family members who are dealing with the consequences that it brings. And so hopefully |
| 2:02.8 | this discussion allows a deeper insight into where we are in our current understanding of the disease, |
| 2:09.5 | what potential options are out there at the moment, and from a preventative standpoint, |
| 2:14.7 | what are the best steps to take? And then also what conclusions are |
| 2:18.7 | currently evidence-based compared to various claims that you see around the internet from people |
| 2:25.6 | claiming to help you reverse Alzheimer's, cure Alzheimer's, or giving you specific recommendations |
... |
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