Governments of the West have finally woken up to the fact that we have an epidemic of dementia on our hands. The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease is growing so quickly (the worldwide incidence is set to treble to 135 million in 35 years), and the death rates are so high (it’s the sixth leading cause of death) that last December, ministers from the G8 leading nations met in London to pledge to coordinate efforts to research a cure.
Although the pharmaceutical industry is never slow to investigate new revenue streams, it’s hit such a stalemate with dementia-none of the five drugs on the market have any evidence of doing any real good at all-that it has stopped looking for a magic bullet.
As our cover story this month makes clear, research to date has ignored the elephant in the room. New and largely ignored evidence shows that insulin resistance from a high-sugar diet may be responsible for the toxic plaques that develop in the brain, eventually robbing it of neurons. What happens in the brain with Alzheimer’s is essentially what happens to the rest of the body with diabetes. In fact, some researchers are going as far as to call Alzheimer’s ‘type 3 diabetes’.
In addition to revelations laying the cause of diabetes at the feet of the processed-food industry, we also offer evidence about those natural herbs and nutriceuticals with solid clinical and laboratory evidence for reversing neural damage that has already begun (page 30 of February issue of WDDTY Magazine).
One of our most comforting thoughts is that modern medicine is a lofty and reputable science, arrived at by exhaustive testing and review. But according to the British Medical Journal Evidence Centre, that faith is misplaced. Less than a third of the 3,000 treatments and drugs assessed by the BMJ’s centre’s investigators have any evidence whatsoever that they cure or alleviate symptoms.Use our handy guide to separate out ‘the Good’-the medicines that might work for particular conditions-from ‘the Bad’ (the medicines likely to do harm) and ‘the Ugly’ (those treatments that have never actually been evaluated; page 25 of February issue of WDDTY Magazine).
One practice worth questioning is taking aspirin as a ‘just-in-case’ remedy. New evidence shows that the benefits-prevention against heart attack-are outweighed by the risks of gastrointestinal bleeding and stroke, and that good old aspirin could be killing 100,000 people worldwide every year and putting another 500,000 in hospital (page 18 of February magazine). But if you want to live a long and healthy life, there is one practice guaranteed to tip the odds more than any other. A special diet? Wrong. A particular exercise regime? Wrong again.
The single thing you can do that dwarfs every other intervention, including stopping smoking, is maintaining close social ties and staying connected. Our prescription for a healthy 2014: talk to two friends before bedtime (page 22 of February issue of WDDTY Magazine).
And speaking of risk factors, the evidence is mounting about the risks of constant mobile-phone use, with numerous countries now acknowledging the dangers.
But our electrosmog doctor Guy Hudson is on hand with a complete programme for using your cell phone safely (page 57 of the magazine).
February is one of the cruellest months when it comes to your skin, so in our Healthy Shopping section, we’ve highlighted a host of natural creams and balms to sort out all the harsh and drying effects of wintry weather (page 72). And for those with particular skin conditions, our Medical Detective Harald Gaier offers a handy list of those products containing medicinal plants that can heal without the toxins of ordinary products (page 68 of February issue of WDDTY Magazine).
Read how Donna Schwenk sorted out her high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and her family’s other health problems with an ancient natural probiotic called ‘kefir’ (and try out some of her scrumptious recipes for breakfast and dessert). And if you have a cat with kidney problems, check out natural vet Paul Bolan’s programme to keep your pet healthy until the end (page 50).
If you plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this month with your significant other, our raw-food chef Mark’eta Bola has come up with a Valentine’s feast of natural aphrodisiacs to help get both of you in the mood (page 53 of the magazine).
We’ve also sourced a batch of natural and organic Valentine’s Day gift ideas from some of our favourite alternative retailers (page 74). So whether you say it with flowers, chocolates, or even organic champagne, here’s to a purer kind of love.
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