My wife and I have cared for both our Mothers at the end of their lives. We were “on the job” for almost 20 years. One of the constant challenges of caring for an older person is making sure that they get enough of the right kind of food. While this may seem to be a matter of strategy – feed them what they like; prepare it attractively and make it tasty; be sure that it is cut up into bite-sized portions; and, in our case, make sure that there isn’t a pack of friendly dogs standing by to volunteer to help Mom clean her plate or be right there when she “accidentally” drops food she doesn’t want on the floor.
But it turns out, as anyone who has tried it knows, that making sure that an elderly person is well-nourished isn’t easy at all, and there are many, many issues that might not occur to any caregiver naturally just because they are a thoughtful and caring person. That was certainly the case with us, and it probably is for a lot of people. Maybe you.
I’ve just been researching the very serious issue of proper nutrition among the elderly, because as readers of this blog know I am very interested in the role that Coca Leaf tea might play in maintaining and even restoring health to the elderly.
I’ve just found a resource that is full of well-written, practical advice that won’t take anyone more than 30 minutes or so to absorb, and is well worth your time if you are caring for an elderly person.
“Many people assume that anyone can assist another to eat. However, feeding a patient is not a simple procedure that can be assigned to a junior member of staff without experience. Nurses need to be taught how to do it, what the problems are and how they might be overcome. Most importantly, they need to know the danger signs and when help is needed.”
If you are caring for another person, and if helping them eat is part of what you do, please read this article and share it with others. It is not just about technique – it is about how to turn knowledge into loving care that actually works.
Readers of this blog know that I have been writing about the potential of pure, natural Coca leaf for the treatment of Alzheimers/Dementia for some time. (See here and here.) Some of you are also probably familiar with my efforts to initiate a program of “Centros de Coca Curación” in Bolivia and Peru where patients from the North could stay for extended periods of Coca leaf and indigenous medicine treatments.
There is no question in my mind that if American seniors, and seniors in all other “Western” countries, had access to a few cups of Coca Leaf tea every day that many of those souls far gone into the depths of Alzheimers/Dementia could benefit and perhaps even recover, and those who have not yet begun their descent into that hellish place could go on to live out their lives free of this scourge.
I cannot begin to describe my feelings about the policies of the US government, and the other governments of the “West” that prevent people from having access to this harmless, non-addictive, natural remedy for what is surely as bad as any form of torture ever dreamed up by our own, or any other government in the world.
In my Alzheimers posts I have noted that the United States is far and away the world leader in the sheer numbers of people who die every year of Alzheimers/Dementia, as well as in the ranking of these diseases as a leading cause of death.
Alzheimers/ementia ranks second only to Coronary Heart Disease as a cause of death in the US, and ranks above Stroke (#4), Diabetes (#6), Breast Cancer (#11), Lung Cancer (#3), Stomach Cancer (#31), Colon-Rectum Cancer (#7), HIV/AIDS (#34), Prostate Cancer (#16) – in fact Alzheimers/Dementia is such a pervasive, and quite possibly preventable cause of death in the US that I found myself wondering where it ranks in other countries around the world.
You may be as surprised as I was. I went to a website that gives comprehensive WHO data on the leading (top 50) causes of death for each country, and here is a sample of what I found. I didn’t include data for every country in the world – you can go to the website if you’re curious about a country not listed here.
Before presenting the data I would like to point to a few things that stand out to me – you may very well see other interesting things in these numbers.
First, the hugely disproportionate numbers of people dying of Alzheimers/Dementia in the US don’t appear to be a function of life expectancy. Many of the countries in every part of the world have the same or longer life expectancy as the US, and nowhere near the numbers of people dying of A/D.
Second, although most of the countries listed have fewer people than the US, the “Rank In Country” number levels that playing field. The “Rank” indicates the number of Alzheimers/Dementia deaths per 100,000 population, which corrects for differences in the absolute numbers of people between countries. When we see that Alzheimers/Dementia ranks #2 in the US and #60 in Peru, for example, it is irrelevant that Peru has far fewer people than the US.
Another aspect of the data that smacks me in the face is that with the exception of Australia and Germany, almost all of the “Western” countries rank pretty high in deaths attributable to Alzheimers/Dementia – although only Switzerland also ranks A/D deaths as #2. But then when you look at Asian, Latin American and African rankings only Uruguay and Chile ( #5 and #4 respectively) come anywhere near the rankings of the industrialized countries of the Western Northern hemisphere. In fact in most of the rest of the world deaths from Alzheimers/Dementia rank WAY down the scale.
So what is going on? What is it that the countries of the “West”, primarily in the Northern hemisphere, have in common with each other but not with the rest of the world?
A highly industrialized food chain comes to mind. A medical industry dominated by corporate pharmaceutical companies is another distinguishing factor. Recently we have learned of the impact of RoundUp in the food chain – could this whole atrocity be something as simple as Monsanto being a mass murderer for profit?
It certainly can’t be environmental pollution – many of the countries with very low rankings for deaths from Alzheimers/Dementia have far more polluted air, water and soil than the “West”.
It also probably cannot be genetics, because many of the countries in the West now have highly diverse demographics, and unless data can be found that shows that people of Anglo-Saxon origin are the reason for the high rankings of the Western countries, we can probably dismiss race as a factor.
I don’t have any solutions to propose regarding the “Why”, but I am adamant that we should find out whether or not Coca leaf therapy could be effective in reversing and/or preventing Alzheimers/Dementia. If the US won’t do it, why not one of the more enlightened countries in the “West” bloc – say The Netherlands, or France? I know that this blog has readers from all of the countries in the “West”, so please take a look at the numbers for your country and try to break open the inexplicable resistance to Coca leaf therapy at the highest levels of your own governments.
It doesn’t matter, as far as Alzheimers/Dementia goes, that Coca Leaf is readily accessible in Peru and Bolivia – Alzheimers/Dementia is not a significant problem in those countries. But in every one of the countries in the “West” these diseases are the cause of the suffering and deaths of so many individuals and the horrible suffering of those who love and try to care for them – why must this continue?
And what is the cause – because there clearly is a cause, and it has to do with something that the countries of the “West” have in common with each other and not with the rest of the world.
I thought that it might be useful to present the arguments for the healing powers of pure, natural Coca Leaf by looking at the top ten causes of death in the US, and the impact that Coca Leaf might have on this cruel slaughter.
As readers of this blog know, I have written on the healing potential of Coca Leaf for many of these leading causes of death in previous posts, including Congestive Heart Failure, Stroke and Hypertension, Alzheimer’s/Dementia, and HIV/AIDS. But somehow when you take a look at the human toll caused by these treatable, and possibly preventable causes of death in one place the impact is greater.
So here is the graphic that, combined with the evidence that I have been presenting for about a year now here on PanaceaChronicles, leaves me asking why this simple, pure, non-addictive, safe and efficacious natural medicine isn’t available to everyone on the planet. Does it impact you in the same way? Then let’s do something about it together, the same way that we have worked together to make Medical Marijuana a reality. (Note that I don’t include Recreational Marijuana here – that’s because Coca Leaf has virtually zero psychoactive effects. All it does is heal the human heart and mind, or help keep them healthy in the first place.)
For my readers in other countries, know that I am as concerned that your governments are keeping this healing herb from you as I am regarding the situation here in the US. In fact, if you feel that I ought to create some additional “Top Ten” graphics for your country please say so in a comment and I will do just that.
I’m adding to this post in response to a number of inquiries from readers. The chart you see below lists the top 50 causes of death in Peru.
A number of things leap right out, don’t they. Influenza/Pneumonia is a leading cause of death. On the surface that would appear to undercut my argument that there is plenty of historical evidence that Coca Leaf is an effective treatment for inflamed, congested lungs. But when you dig a little into these figures you find that almost all of the influenza/pneumonia deaths are among Indians in the Amazonian part of Peru who have no natural immunity to some of the most recent virulent strains of flu like H1N1, and the rest appear to be largely among infants exposed to harsh environmental conditions and poverty. So IMO the thesis is still valid that Coca Leaf could be a specific treatment not for the flu virus but for the inflammation and congestion that are the real killers.
And yes, cardiovascular disease and stroke are also leading causes of death, but again when you look closely these deaths are almost exclusively among the sedentary people of the cities who eat a “Western” diet and who are as stressed as anyone in New York or LA. And who, by the way, rarely chew Coca Leaf. So my suspicion that Coca Leaf can be very helpful in treating disease like Congestive Heart Failure still stands, at least in my mind. And by the way, these very people would be among the first populations who should be targeted by Peruvian researchers to see if Coca Leaf treatment can help treat the symptoms of CHF and reduce the deaths from heart disease and stroke.
But what really caught my eye, and the main reason I am revising this blog post, is that when you look at the US Top 10 just notice that Alzheimer’s/Dementia come raging in at #2. Now check out all 50 of the leading causes of death in Peru. See any hint of Alzheimer’s/Dementia anywhere in the top 50. And I do mean any hint – perhaps Alzheimer’s/Dementia are called something else in Peru. Checking. Checking. …. Nope, not a hint.
So OK, maybe it isn’t because so many people in Peru chew Coca Leaf and drink Coca Leaf tea. After all, there are all those CHF and stroke deaths to account for. But Alzheimer’s/Dementia are nowhere in the top 50 leading causes of death. Hmmmmm. I wonder what that means. Don’t you?
I’ve just finished browsing your “Grand Challenges” website where you announce funding for ideas that will change the world for the better. You certainly use all the right words to sound like you are committed to innovation.
You say: “One bold idea. That’s all it takes.”
You also say: “Unorthodox thinking is essential to overcoming the most persistent challenges in global health. Vaccines were first developed over 200 years ago because revolutionary thinkers took an entirely new approach to preventing disease.”
And also: “Grand Challenges Explorations fosters innovation in global health research. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $100 million to encourage scientists worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas to fight our greatest health challenges.”
So far, so good. So when I saw one of the topics in your latest “Grand Challenge”, I was pretty excited. I mean, “New Ways to Reduce Pneumonia Fatalities Through Timely, Effective Treatment of Children” is a pretty cool cause to support. After all, as you point out “Over 1.2 million children died from pneumonia in 2011. Ninety percent of child deaths from pneumonia occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where the proportion of deaths among children with pneumonia can reach as high as 30%.”
That’s a lot of children dying needlessly. Good for you for caring about them.
So, like you say, you’re looking for “One Bold Idea”, right?
Well, let’s just pause and catch our breath here before becoming too excited, because in the next paragraph on your “Grand Challenges” website it becomes starkly clear that you aren’t really looking for “One Bold Idea” – you’re really only interested in rather incremental ideas that fall into three narrow little boxes of pre-defined “solutions”.
I say – Merde!
You say: “We are looking for innovative ideas in the following specific areas of interest under this exploration:
1. Child friendly formulations of amoxicillin 2. Optimizing Oxygen concentrators 3. Devices for measuring oxygen saturation (or optimizing pulse oximetry)”
In other words, you will only fund unorthodox, innovative, bold ideas that fall within a conventional, and somewhat limited approach to treatment of bacterial (not viral) pneumonia. And that’s a real shame, Bill and Melinda, because I can offer you an idea that is truly innovative, bold and outrageous, that can be tested and proven with a simple, inexpensive series of trials, and that can then be implemented anywhere in the world at very low cost. Furthermore, this solution to pneumonia deaths isn’t limited to children. That’s important because while a horrible number of children die each year of Pneumonia, they aren’t the only age groups at risk. As many elderly people die from Pneumonia every year as children, but neither your charity nor your vision seems to extend that far. What you are asking for, essentially, is bold, innovative solutions that demonstrate that the world is flat, and you will not consider funding any proposal that seeks to establish that the earth is any other shape.
Further, when demonstrated to everyone’s satisfaction this idea will not just offer a new, inexpensive, safe and effective treatment for Pneumonia, it will also offer treatment solutions and cures to a wide range of diseases and conditions including Asthma, Obesity, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Congestive Heart Failure, Depression, and possibly Alzheimer’s.
Is that Bold enough for you? I’m guessing not. But I would like to lay it on the table anyway. Please feel free to ignore it.
However, before we get to my proposal, let’s get a bit more clarity on Pneumonia itself. This from “The Lancet”, Vol. 377, Issue 9773, pages 1264-1275, 9 April 2011:
“About 200 million cases of viral community-acquired Pneumonia occur every year—100 million in children and 100 million in adults. Molecular diagnostic tests have greatly increased our understanding of the role of viruses in pneumonia, and findings indicate that the incidence of viral pneumonia has been underestimated.”
“In children, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, human bocavirus, and parainfluenza viruses are the agents identified most frequently in both developed and developing countries. Dual viral infections are common, and a third of children have evidence of viral-bacterial co-infection.”
“In adults, viruses are the putative causative agents in a third of cases of community-acquired pneumonia, in particular influenza viruses, rhinoviruses, and coronaviruses. Bacteria continue to have a predominant role in adults with pneumonia.”
“Presence of viral epidemics in the community, patient’s age, speed of onset of illness, symptoms, biomarkers, radiographic changes, and response to treatment can help differentiate viral from bacterial pneumonia. However, no clinical algorithm exists that will distinguish clearly the cause of pneumonia.”
“No clear consensus has been reached about whether patients with obvious viral community-acquired pneumonia need to be treated with antibiotics. Apart from neuraminidase inhibitors for pneumonia caused by influenza viruses, there is no clear role for use of specific anti-virals to treat viral community-acquired pneumonia. Influenza vaccines are the only available specific preventive measures. Further studies are needed to better understand the cause and pathogenesis of community-acquired pneumonia.”
“Furthermore, regional differences in cause of pneumonia should be investigated, in particular to obtain more data from developing countries.”
So it seems that Pneumonia can be caused either by viruses, or by bacteria, or by both. Hmmmmm. And it also seems that the “incidence of viral pneumonia has been underestimated.” Double Hmmmm. And “a third of children have evidence of viral-bacterial co-infection.” Triple Hmmmm.
Well, I suppose I could go on and belabor more of the problems of treating Pneumonia in children as simply a bacterial problem, but I’m sure you catch the drift. I would rather turn now to the three categories where you are willing to fund “Bold” and “Innovative” ideas.
Area #1 – Child friendly formulations of amoxicillin
You say “Amoxicillin is an effective beta lactam antibiotic with activity against the pneumococcus. The World Health Organization recommends amoxicillin dispersible tablets as the first line antibiotic for outpatient treatment of children with pneumonia. However, the availability and use of this formulation as treatment for pneumonia in high burden countries remains limited. Many countries only have the capsule and powder for suspension formulations on their licensed medicines register, while others continue to recommend cotrimoxazole as front-line treatment.”
“The capsule is difficult to administer to children, while the suspension is bulky, requires clean water to reconstitute, is costly, and may require refrigeration in locations with extremely high temperatures. Also, liquid dosage forms, such as syrups and suspension are usually not amenable to long-term storage or transport under high temperature conditions common in many low and middle income countries and must be consumed once opened or reconstituted. Dispersible tablets have improved shelf life and cost but continue to have associated challenges including time to dispersal and requirement for clean liquid.”
“The ideal oral pediatric dosage form is tasteless/taste-masked and orally dissolvable or easy to swallow. We are looking for innovative ideas on dosage formulation of amoxicillin for children between birth and 5 years of age (the most affected age group). Ideas such as orally disintegrating tablets (not requiring dispersal in liquid prior to consumption), or transdermal patches will be accepted. While established techniques exist for disintegrating tablets including freeze drying, molding, spray drying, sublimation, direct compression, cotton candy process, mass extrusion, and melt granulation, we are looking for formulations that are user friendly, simpler than dispersible tablets, and of equivalent or lower cost to current amoxicillin formulation.”
OK Bill & Melinda –You’re ignoring the fact that a very significant % of Pneumonia isn’t caused by bacteria at all, but by viral infections, and you’re looking for a better formulation for a standard antibiotic. That’s all you’re interested in funding. Wow, that’s bold! (a little snarky, I know – sorry)
So how about area #2 – Optimizing Oxygen Concentrators
Here you say “Oxygen is a life-saving intervention, yet many hospitals and health centers do not have access to reliable oxygen supply. Cylinders are costly to refill and logistically challenging to transport especially to rural areas with poor road access. Therefore, many low resource settings rely on oxygen concentrators, where facilities have access to grid power or reliable backup power. In settings where electricity is not reliable however, current oxygen concentrators are less suitable.”
“We are looking for innovations that would improve the adaptability of oxygen concentrators to low resource settings including improving power or maintenance requirements of the equipment. Power supply is a major known challenge, and we are therefore looking for systems that have low power needs, increased storing capacity or are able to operate continuously from grey power or alternative energy sources. Other improvements to reduce maintenance needs are also encouraged as are improvements to system efficiency.”
Well Bill & Melinda – I have to give you a tiny thumbs-up on this one. You’re close. Getting oxygen to the lungs is indeed critical to saving the lives of pneumonia victims. Their lungs are so inflamed and filled with mucous that they are literally drowning in their own body fluids. So – limited kudos here. You see the problem, but your vision for the solution is to improve on existing technology. I suppose some might call that bold, but I’m afraid that I can’t agree. It’s just a search for a slightly better mousetrap – not for a solution to the underlying problem. But good for you – you’re trying. I suppose. After all, that approach has worked for MicroSoft – kinda.
OK – onwards – Number Three area where you’ll fund Bold and Innovative solutions: Devices for measuring oxygen saturation (or optimizing pulse oximetry)
I can understand why you are big believers in Technology Bill and Melinda – technology has been very, very good to you. So let’s see why you think this is an area for bold innovation.
“Hypoxemia (low oxygen level in the blood) is associated with mortality. Identifying children with hypoxemia is a key step to provision of life saving oxygen supplementation. Hypoxemia is difficult to detect using clinical signs alone because they lack sensitivity. The primary method for measuring oxygen saturation at the point of care is pulse oximetry, however its availability is highly limited in the developing world due to cost. The initial investment is considerable, and the maintenance costs have been reported to be as high as 50% of the initial capital costs on an annual basis2. The low longevity and high costs of parts particularly the finger sensors constrain their use in low resource settings.”
“The last few years has seen innovations around mobile devices that can potentially measure oxygen saturation. Examples of such devices are limited, and remain costly. We are looking for innovations that will deliver reliable devices or tools for measuring and monitoring of oxygen saturation in children with pneumonia in low resource settings. These innovations should be of lower cost than existing devices, require less frequent and affordable maintenance, and be usable with limited or no training by non-professional health providers. The ideal device would have a long sensor life without disposable parts and be able to communicate with or integrate into a mobile technology (cell phone) platform.”
OK – so you’re looking for technology that offers a better way to monitor children who are dying of pneumonia – presumably so that they can be treated more effectively. And how are they going to be treated more effectively? Please see Bold Solutions #1 and #2 above.
What a nice, neat little package. You’re looking for a better antibiotic, a better machine to pump oxygen into little lungs, and a better machine to see how well the antibiotics and oxygen pumps are doing. And you’re focused like a laser on young children in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. I guess old people dying of Pneumonia in nursing homes in the US just aren’t as photogenic as little brown and black babies cuddling in Melinda’s loving arms while hubby Bill looks on admiringly. Too bad Grandma – no Big, Bold solutions for you.
Then of course on your Grand Challenges website there’s a long list of proposed solutions that you won’t fund – too long to list here. Suffice it to say that if a solution doesn’t fall directly under 1, 2 or 3 you aren’t interested. Even if it is a real, safe, effective, simple, and inexpensive solution – one for which there are reams of historical evidence that it will work, because it used to work pretty well, before it was lost and forgotten for the past hundred years or so.
And it won’t take millions of dollars to prove this solution to every clinician’s satisfaction and then get it into the field and start saving lots of those little lives. And my guess is that it will address a huge part of the risk to life of both bacterial and viral Pneumonia – the inflammation in the lungs and the clogging of those lungs with cement-like mucous, which of course cuts off the oxygen supply.
Readers of this blog have already guessed precisely where I’m going with this, haven’t you? I’m betting that a simple tonic made from pure, natural, high quality Coca Leaf will do the trick. Certainly not the entire trick – you will still want to be able to treat the underlying bacterial and/or viral infection, but throughout the 1800s doctors in Europe and America who of course had no recourse to antibiotics or high technology routinely treated cases of Pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract diseases with Coca Leaf tonic. Of course they weren’t always successful – plenty of people were carried away into death in spite of having their pulmonary inflammation reduced and their lungs cleared of mucous by Coca Leaf treatment. I am sure that today’s doctors could do better, given the anti-bacterial and anti-viral medicines and the technologies available.
But wait – Bill & Melinda are focused on sick children in poor countries where there often is no technology, and where the antibiotics are primitive and limited, and anti-viral treatments (which Bill & Melinda don’t seem to have as a priority) are likely to be unavailable. So why not give at least some thought to the contribution that a simple, natural medicinal plant could make in many of those 1.2 Million children who are dying every year in God-forsaken places of the earth.
The answer is easy. Because that particular idea doesn’t fit into one of Bill & Melinda’s three little boxes. Well, hell, even with their zillions of dollars Bill & Melinda can’t be expected to fund every Bold and Innovative idea that comes along, even really, really simple and inexpensive ideas that could easily make a difference in the life or death of millions of people every year – not just children, but the elderly, who are the group most at risk next to young children, and many, many others.
Now, I may sound like I disrespect Bill & Melinda, but I don’t. They at least give the appearance of trying to make a positive difference in the world, and they actually do some good work. I guess what I do disrespect, and resent, is self-anointed big shots and their sycophants who toss around words like “Bold” and “Innovative” and then turn out to be interested only in the sound of their own voices, praising themselves for qualities of mind and imagination that, upon close inspection, they so clearly do not have.
So what would I do if I had even a tiny fraction of your resources, Bill & Melinda?
If I had $100,000 available to me to address the terrible issue of Pneumonia (and not just in children), here is what I would do.
I would go to Peru, and probably also Bolivia, and network with doctors and indigenous healers who already know how to treat respiratory disease (not just Pneumonia) with Coca Leaf. I would find out from them how they use Coca Leaf – as a tea, or as a tonic, or a syrup, or a lozenge, or perhaps in other ways like a solution in a vaporizer or nebulizer. I would interview these people and document the interviews on video, and I would post these videos where the world could have access to them. My good friends at Wiracocha have offered to introduce me to their extensive Peruvian network of indigenous healers, shamans, and natural medicine practitioners, so I wouldn’t simply be wandering around the mountains looking for people to interview.
Then I would use some of the money to fund one or more small but first-class and methodologically sound studies in Peru – and, again, probably Bolivia – comparing the efficacy and safety of Coca Leaf treatments of comparable respiratory disease in every age group. With credentialed scientific and medical people, as well as respected indigenous healers, as authors of the findings these results would find a peer-reviewed journal where they could be published.
Finally I would work with Peruvian and Bolivian food chemists to investigate how to make tonics and syrups and other medicinal Coca Leaf products that would be highly palatable, especially to children, and would be shelf-stable for long periods without refrigeration, and that could be manufactured inexpensively using all-natural ingredients.
And finally I would work with the Governments of Peru and Bolivia and with the leadership of the indigenous Coca-producing communities in both countries to ensure that these Coca leaf medicines would be readily available to Pneumonia patients in any country that would allow them – and I would work to ensure that any country that denied access to these Coca Leaf treatments for its people with Pneumonia and other respiratory diseases – was prominently and endlessly shamed in public for their callous disregard for human life.
Oh, and let’s not forget, as I mentioned earlier, that this simple treatment might very well also benefit people with Asthma, Obesity, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Congestive Heart Failure, Depression, and possibly Alzheimer’s – among other scourges of humankind.
All for $100,000 to prove ( actually re-introduce the concept to this generation’s medical community) the concept and then perhaps $1 Million to see it rolled out to clinics and treatment centers in whatever countries would accept them.
Is that Bold and Innovative enough for you, Bill & Melinda?
I didn’t think so. I think I’ll just put this project up on a CrowdFunding website and see if there are some people out there who are actually willing to support real, simple, bold, innovative and almost certainly effective solutions that don’t necessarily have to fit into some tiny, pre-designed little box.
In the meanwhile, dear reader, you can use the “donate” button on this blog to let me know that you support this idea. You can also contact me at billdrake@hctc.net if you know of any sources of potential support for this project.
And good luck with those Grand Challenges, Bill & Melinda, which in truth seem more like Grand Standing to me. But hey, you’re rich and famous, and surrounded by high-priced experts, so what the hell do I know?
While the negative effects of aging on mental performance have been part of the human experience seemingly forever, as with many other diseases and conditions both Alzheimer’s and Dementia seem to be getting more widespread. Whether this is because people are living longer, or because they are being systematically poisoned by our industrial foods, polluted environment, and artificial lifestyles, the outcome is the same – millions of people worldwide spend the last years of their lives in a drooling, hopeless fog.
Please don’t think I am cruel or heartless when I describe the last years of life this way. My wife and I have cared for three of our four parents in our home during their last years and we have first-hand experience with the terrible downsides of the deterioration of mind, body and spirit that aging people (and their families) must endure.
Update! Lisa Gonzalez has just sent me an excellent set of resources that she has complied for caregivers, which I include here with my thanks:
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, over 5 Million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and 500,000 die each year from causes linked directly to the disease, while 1 out of 3 people die of either Alzheimer’s or one of the other forms of Dementia. Alzheimer’s alone is the 6th leading cause of death in the US. In some ways an even more important stat is that 15.5 million Americans provide 17.7 Billions hours of unpaid care to their elderly family members with these Dementias. This statistic alone means that at a wage level of $10/hour, Alzheimer’s and related Dementias cost the United States $180 Billion in lost productivity – what these 15.5 million care-givers could theoretically make at a minimum wage job rather than caring for their elderly family member without compensation.
A few additional pieces of information before we get into the purpose of this blog post:
1. Almost 65% of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women
2. More than 60% of caregivers for Alzheimer’s and related Dementia victims are women
3. Women are 2.5 times more likely to be providing 24/7 unpaid care for an Alzheimer’s/Dementia victim than men
4. For a women in her 60s, her estimated lifetime risk for Alzheimer’s is 1 in 6, compared with 1 in 11 for breast cancer.
5. It is estimated that by 2050 the number of victims of Alzheimer’s/Dementia in the US alone will triple to nearly 50 million people.
Could There Really Be A Simple Solution?
The conservative answer is – probably not, but maybe.
The optimistic answer, based on what I have learned about the effects of Coca Leaf tea and tonics on mental function – almost certainly yes, at least to some degree.
I believe that Coca Leaf can provide at least a partial solution, and at least some relief from the steady, inexorable deterioration that is the hallmark of these horrendous plagues. Equally important, Coca Leaf can offer at least some relief for those who love those who suffer this terrible, and possibly avoidable fate, and are willing to dedicate their lives to caring for them.
Parenthetically, if you are a caretaker for a parent who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and if your family has the financial means to do so, why not consider taking your parent on a 30 day trip to a nice spa in either Peru or Bolivia, where Coca Leaf Tea is readily available and simply see if 6 cups a day might make a difference? If you do, please document the results and let me know so that I can share them on this blog. In a few months I plan to set up a CrowdSourcing campaign on either Indiegogo or KickStarter to raise funds to allow me to go to Peru and Bolivia and set up a network of participating spas, therapists, healers and physicians for families who could benefit from 30 days of CLT treatment, but in the meanwhile if you are caring for a loved one with the beginnings of this terrible condition and can afford the trip, please consider trying this approach.
OK – big claims here. What’s the evidence? For that we have to look at the research and writings of physicians and scientists from the 1800s who were working and healing people using Coca Leaf tea and tonics long before Alzheimer’s was a known diagnosis, but who were intimately familiar with the process of mental deterioration with age.
The following brief citations are just a small selection of the observations of many talented physicians and scientists writing primarily in the 1800s about their experiences in treating people for a wide range of diseases and conditions with Coca Leaf. If you would like to browse an extensive collection of these writings, along with an equally extensive bibliography that I’ve hyperlinked to original source materials from the 1700s and 1800s, you’ll probably find my ebook “The Coca leaf Papers” worth reading.
You can order this ebook for $3.99 from Amazon by clicking here or, if you would rather not have to buy the book I will send you the complete ebook for free. You can request your free copy by clicking here. PLEASE NOTE – You must fill in the contact form so that I can have the right email address to send you your free book. Thanks!
“Erythroxylon Coca: A Treatise On Brain Exhaustion As The Cause Of Disease”, By William Tibbles, MD (1877)
Case 3. In 1875, a lady aged 78 years was suffering from extreme debility with sickness, faintness, loss of memory, and fretfulness; her friends expected every hour her decease, but, to the surprise and wonder of her friends, after a month’s treatment with coca she was restored to her usual health and activity.
I have, with success, treated hundreds of cases of debility, of which the above are examples. In some cases I have used “cocaine”, the active principle of Erythroxylon coca. I can fully endorse the statements of the scientific gentlemen quoted in your article in respect to the efficacy of coca in prolonged exertion.
“An Essay On Erythrolylon Coca” (in) “A New Form Of Nervous Disease” By W.S. Searle, M.D. (1881)
Coca regulates and greatly assists in maintaining that equilibrium of action of the heart and capillary circulation, which is so necessary to the maintenance of an un-exhausted state of the body. The muscles brought into action during the performance of manual labour are frequently eager for a greatly increased supply of arterial blood. To supply this increased want of blood necessarily entails an increase of vaso-motor action; thus in persons who have to make a little extra muscular exertion, the capillary vessels will necessarily dilate excessively, and if the action of the heart does not correspondingly increase in frequency and force, the tension of the vessels will fall, and if, in such a case, the pulse be felt, the artery conveys the sensation of a double or rebounding pulse. If, on the other hand, the heart be working excitedly, as when an individual receives some exciting impressions during the time he is performing simple labour which does not require a great increase in the supply of blood to the muscles; or, in other words, while the muscles do not require a supply of blood much greater than on ordinary occasions, the tension of the arteries, or the force of the blood contained in them, may be greatly raised, and the amount of heart-work further increased in order to force the circulation of the blood at the increased speed.
Mental labour is frequently productive of such arterial tension – an exhausted Brain, whereby its influence over the heart’s action is diminished, will give rise to it; the diminution of nervous influence over the excretory organs whereby an increased amount of urea is produced and collected in the blood will give rise to it; as will also abnormal nutrition during exertion. These variations are abnormal and give rise to ill effects. In extremely low tension of the arterial and capillary vessels, the increased supply of blood to the muscles causes anemia of (being a deficiency of supply of blood to) the brain, and there is produced a feeling of fatigue, giddiness, or fainting. In this condition there is abnormal rise in the internal temperature. On the other hand, if the arterial tension be increased, then the strain will fall upon the heart, which will become overtaxed, dilated, and in some cases entire failure will be produced, either by over-distention and paralysis, or, by gradually increasing signs of dilatation, producing breathlessness, a sensation of lightness in the head, coldness of the extremities, pallor of face, anxious expression, and the temperature is abnormally decreased. These are the results of discordant action of the circulatory system, produced by exertion or excitement.
It may be asked, what has all this to do with the action of coca-leaf? Well, it is found by experiment that coca-leaf regulates the action of the heart and circulatory system and thereby nearly altogether preventing such results as above recorded as the consequence of muscular exertion or mental excitement.”
“An Essay On Erythrolylon Coca” (in) “A New Form Of Nervous Disease” By W.S. Searle, M.D. (1881)
Now to the question as to how and in what manner coca-leaf accomplishes the results which are consequent upon its use. It has been shown that all the various processes are under the influence and governance of the force conveyed through the medium of the brain, spinal cord, and their continuations – the nerves. Such being the case we may justly infer that Erythroxylon Coca influences the various functions by its action upon the great centres of the body; for it is only through these that a restorative action can be induced.
What I here want to show is that coca-leaf produces these results by imparting nerve food which is converted into nervous energy and thus increasing the total amount of nervous energy and consequent governing force. The functions of the nerves are only restored, when they have become exhausted by physical or mental toil or disease, till after rest etc., proportioned to the amount of exhaustion. And if it can be shown, as we have done, that coca-leaf is capable of either retarding or preventing the condition of exhaustion, and likewise of restoring an actually exhausted body; and if this can only be done by restoring the natural or normal condition of the brain and nervous system, then, we may fairly conclude that the results proved to be consequent upon the use of Erythroxylon coca are brought about simply and only by its imparting to that centre and diverging branches an amount of force which otherwise might only be obtained after partaking of rest and other things proportioned to the exhaustion.
It is evident, therefore, that the prevention of that vacillating action of the internal organs generally consequent upon exertion, and likewise that the restorative action in cases of physical or mental exhaustion and in disease, is due to this increase in the governing force of the nervous system.
Editor’s Note: Perhaps it isn’t so far-fetched to think that Coca Leaf tea could play an important role in treating Alzheimer’s when you consider the following two research studies on other natural medicinal plants. Neither of these studies deal with Coca, of course, but the fact that there appear to be multiple promising natural medicines from various parts of the world argues in a powerful way for testing of the potential of Coca for this purpose.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2014 Jun 24. pii: S0378-8741(14)00494-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.046. [Epub ahead of print]
Screening and identification of neuroprotective compounds relevant to Alzheimer׳s disease from medicinal plants of S. Tomé e Príncipe.
Author information
• 1The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Electronic address: acurrais@salk.edu.
• 2The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
• 3Center for Pharmaceutical Studies, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal; Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Largo Marquês de Pombal, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal.
• 4Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
Alzheimer׳s disease (AD) neuropathology is strongly associated with the activation of inflammatory pathways, and long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs reduces the risk of developing the disease. In S. Tomé e Príncipe (STP), several medicinal plants are used both for their positive effects in the nervous system (treatment of mental disorders, analgesics) and their anti-inflammatory properties. The goal of this study was to determine whether a phenotypic, cell-based screening approach can be applied to selected plants from STP (Voacanga africana, Tarenna nitiduloides, Sacosperma paniculatum, Psychotria principensis, Psychotria subobliqua) in order to identify natural compounds with multiple biological activities of interest for AD therapeutics.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Plant hydroethanolic extracts were prepared and tested in a panel of phenotypic screening assays that reflect multiple neurotoxicity pathways relevant to AD-oxytosis in hippocampal nerve cells, in vitro ischemia, intracellular amyloid toxicity, inhibition of microglial inflammation and nerve cell differentiation. HPLC fractions from the extract that performed the best in all of the assays were tested in the oxytosis assay, our primary screen, and the most protective fraction was analyzed by mass spectrometry. The predominant compound was purified, its identity confirmed by ESI mass spectrometry and NMR, and then tested in all of the screening assays to determine its efficacy.
RESULTS:
An extract from the bark of Voacanga africana was more protective than any other plant extract in all of the assays (EC50s≤2.4µg/mL). The HPLC fraction from the extract that was most protective against oxytosis contained the alkaloid voacamine (MW=704.90) as the predominant compound. Purified voacamine was very protective at low doses in all of the assays (EC50s≤3.4µM).
CONCLUSION:
These findings validate the use of our phenotypic screening, cell-based assays to identify potential compounds to treat AD from plant extracts with ethnopharmacological relevance. Our study identifies the alkaloid voacamine as a major compound in Voacanga africana with potent neuroprotective activities in these assays.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2014 Mar 28;152(3):403-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.12.053. Epub 2014 Jan 9.
The treatment of Alzheimer’s disease using Chinese medicinal plants: from disease models to potential clinical applications.
Su Y1, Wang Q2, Wang C1, Chan K3, Sun Y1, Kuang H4.
Author information
• 1Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmacology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China.
• 2Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmacology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: qhwang668@sina.com.
• 3Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, University of Western Sydney, NSW 2560, Australia; Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
• 4Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Pharmacology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: hxkuang@hotmail.com.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the sustained higher nervous disorders of the activities and functions of the brain. Due to its heavy burden on society and the patients’ families, it is urgent to review the treatments for AD to provide basic data for further research and new drug development. Among these treatments, Chinese Material Medica (CMM) has been traditionally clinical used in China to treat AD for a long time with obvious efficacy. With the further research reports of CMM, new therapeutic materials may be recovered from troves of CMM. However, So far, little or no review work has been reported to conclude anti-AD drugs from CMM in literature. Therefore, a systematic introduction of CMM anti-AD research progress is of great importance and necessity. This paper strives to systematically describe the progress of CMM in the treatment of AD, and lays a basis data for anti-AD drug development from CMM, and provides the essential theoretical support for the further development and utilization of CMM resources through a more comprehensive research of the variety of databases regarding CMM anti-AD effects reports.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:
Literature survey was performed via electronic search (SciFinder®, Pubmed®, Google Scholar and Web of Science) on papers and patents and by systematic research in ethnopharmacological literature at various university libraries.
RESULTS:
This review mainly introduces the current research on the Chinese Material Medica (CMM) theoretical research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), anti-AD active constituent of CMM, anti-AD effects on AD models, anti-AD mechanism of CMM, and anti-AD effect of CMM formula.
CONCLUSION:
Scholars around the world have made studies on the anti-AD molecular mechanism of CMM from different pathways, and have made substantial progress. The progress not only enriched the anti-AD theory of CMM, but also provided clinical practical significance and development prospects in using CMM to treat AD. Western pure drugs cannot replace the advantages of CMM in the anti-AD aspect. Therefore, in the near future, the development of CMM anti-AD drugs with a more clearly role and practical data will be a major trend in the field of AD drug development, and it will promote the use of CMM.
My wife and I have cared for both our Mothers at the end of their lives. We were “on the job” for almost 20 years. One of the constant challenges of caring for an older person is making sure that they get enough of the right kind of food. While this may seem to be a matter of strategy – feed them what they like; prepare it attractively and make it tasty; be sure that it is cut up into bite-sized portions; and, in our case, make sure that there isn’t a pack of friendly dogs standing by to volunteer to help Mom clean her plate or be right there when she “accidentally” drops food she doesn’t want on the floor.
