Cure for Alzheimer’s in a bottle? Part 3

So far it appears that we only have Dr Wurtman’s words to go on and more studies on diet and AD have to be done before making it sound like Souvenaid is the magic bullet for AD. These studies need to be compared to other similar diet supplements on the market. The studies have to be blinded with Dr Wurtman being not part of the study. Until objective randomized studies are done, this appears to be just another health supplement study looking for a disease it can cure.

One should note that the “Medical drink” did not improve any other memory test or cognition. The only improvement was in verbal recall.

Final note: There have been many studies which have looked at effects of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acid on AD and most have shown no benefits. Moreover, mild AD patients generally do not require any treatment in the first place because they are still capable of function. Moreover, there is not a single study which has shown that AD is due to a deficiency of any of these chemicals. Generally when doctors mix research with business, there is always a certain bias and results are usually hyped up to be more positive than what they appear. It appears that this antidote for AD appears to me more geared towards making money rather than helping patients.

The study is published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia.

Cure for Alzheimer’s in a bottle? Part 2

Dr Wurtman says that since these nutrients are already present in the human body, they are safe- this there is no problem with side effects or toxicity. With this hypothesis their study looked at several hundred patients with mild AD. Some individuals took Souvenaid, and the control group participants received a non-medical drink, once a day for 12 weeks.

The study was not randomized or blind but the researchers observed that individuals who took this cocktail had improvement ONLY in “Verbal Recall.” Says Dr Wurtman, "There was a clear difference. The difference was greatest in people with very mild but quite real Alzheimer's but it is not a cure."

This cocktail mixture will be available on the market next year and will be distributed by Nutria America, for which Wurtman is a consultant.
Nutria is also planning more studies with the cocktail and will introduce the formulae to doctors so that they can recommend it to their patients. While Souvenaid is said to be very safe, it is only recommended in individuals with mild dementia or have early stage AD.

Speaking like a real businessman, Dr Wurtman explained that taking these supplements is similar to pregnant women taking folic acid. But what Dr Wurtman fails to mention that is that there is solid evidence to show that lack of folic acid during pregnancy can result in spinal cord defects- no such evidence exists for AD.

Cure for Alzheimer’s in a bottle? Part 1

A great deal of research is being done on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) because there are close to 5 million individuals living with this incurable disorder. So far no treatment has helped but a recent study suggests that perhaps the cure for AD may be available in a bottle.

Some of the pathology behind AD is understood and most of the newer treatments are focusing on methods to replenish nerve function or replace the lost neurotransmitter in the brain. Researchers at MIT have come up with a drink called “Souvenaid” or “brain food” which is taken under the advice of a physician and can help restore neurotransmitter balance in patients with AD.

This medical drink has 3 chemicals- Uridine, choline, and the omega-3 fatty acids. When these three chemicals enter the brain, they restore brain function says researcher Dr. Richard Wurtman, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of the study. Uridine is a molecule utilized in the genetic code and a member of the vitamin B family and omega fatty acids are in ample quantities in fish (Mind you people have been taking both fish and mega doses of vitamins for the past 30 years and this has never been shown to decrease or prevent AD!).