Breaking Alzheimer’s – The Definitive Lecture Series

When it became clear that several serious, mortal, and mostly untreatable rare diseases were due to defects in peroxisomes and that plasmalogen deficiency alone is sufficient to cause mortality and morbidity in these diseases, research into the biochemical pathways necessary for the biosynthesis of plasmalogens was intensified. The peroxisomal biosynthesis of plasmalogens was (and still is) believed to end at the formation of the alkyl ether bond and …

Lecture 11 – Biochemistry of Plasmalogen Supplementation Read More »

Plasmalogens were first discovered in 1924, almost 100 years ago. Peroxisomes, the intracellular organelle where plasmalogens are made, were discovered in 1960. The rare cerebrohepatorenal syndrome called Zellweger’ syndrome was first identified in the mid 1960’s. This is a very serious disease. Children with this disease typically die within 6 months of birth. In 1973 it was discovered that Zellweger’ syndrome was caused by a lack of peroxisomes. In 1979 it …

Lecture 10 – Plasmalogens and the Epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Dementia Read More »

The terms “Oxidative Stress” and “Reactive Oxygen Species” are commonly bandied about as is the term “Anti-Oxidant”. What do these terms really mean? Where does oxidative stress come from? How does the human body create and regulate reactive oxygen species? What happens when your body’s anti-oxidation mechanisms become overwhelmed?   Join Dr. Goodenowe for Lecture 9 – The Biochemistry of Oxidative Stress and find the answers to these questions and …

Lecture 9 – The Biochemistry of Oxidative Stress: Breaking Alzheimer’s Read More »

The average brain volume of humans increases with increasing myelination of the neurons which results in more stable and efficient neurological function. From this perspective, the human brain does not reach full maturity until age 40-50, which is when the average population brain volume reaches its maximum. After age 50, the population average brain volume begins to decrease as subsets of the population begin to experience neurodegeneration. Some …

Lecture 8 – The Biochemistry of Brain Volume: Breaking Alzheimer’s Read More »

Part I – Beware of what appears to be logically obvious A lot of things in our world appear obvious only to be proven wrong by experimentation. For most of us, the world is flat – it looks flat, it feels flat. A flat earth is the most obvious hypothesis based upon our everyday experience. …

Lectures 4, 5, and 6 – Cognitive Impairment and the True Cause of Alzheimer’s Neuropathology: Breaking Alzheimer’s – The Definitive Lecture Series Read More »

I am the first and only scientist to solve the biochemical mechanism and cause of reduced cognition – a deficiency of plasmalogens in the synaptic membrane of cholinergic neurons leads to a reduced uptake of choline following a neuron firing event. Reduced synaptic choline uptake results in excessive de novo intracellular choline synthesis via methyltransferase activity (which causes elevated homocysteine) and membrane catabolism (which causes cell shrinkage) to sustain sufficient acetylcholine levels for nerve transmission. Using data from multiple independent international …

Lecture 3 – The Biochemistry of Cognition: Breaking Alzheimer’s Read More »

The first step in the Breaking Alzheimer’s journey is to understand the differences between health and disease, life and death, and average lifespan versus maximum lifespan. Loss of function leads to disease and then to death. The average time to death from a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is about five years. So, let’s start by understanding …

Lecture 2 – Philosophical Underpinnings: Breaking Alzheimer’s – The Definitive Lecture Series Read More »

About one in four persons have a genetic predisposition for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia caused by having one or two copies of the ɛ4 allele of the gene APOE. Over half of the persons with Alzheimer’s have this gene allele. Population-based genotyping for this genetic risk is not recommended because there are no widely accepted protocols …

Lecture 7 – APOE: Breaking Alzheimer’s – The Definitive Lecture Series Read More »

Throughout most of human history, senile dementia (which occurs after age 65) has been considered a natural part of the aging process. It was not until the 20th century that scientists began to investigate and hypothesize regarding the cause of senile dementia more seriously. At the turn of the century, Dr. Alois Alzheimer was the first …

Lecture 1 – Introduction: Breaking Alzheimer’s Read More »