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• November 30 2011

  Alzheimer’s Disease: How to Face Fear With Knowledge (Part 2)

  Category:  Health

  By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP and Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D.,
  
  The Joseph P and Rose F. Kennedy, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of Genetics and Aging, Massachusetts General Hospital

  
  In the first post we confronted the primary fact about Alzheimer’s disease – fear and terror – which is a psychological reality, not a piece of scientific data. Our minds are the window to reality. Any form of mental illness is frightening to the patient because their grip on reality has become tenuous, if not delusional. The same disorder is frightening to onlookers because the fragile bond that links us – our agreement that A is real but B is not - is threatened and often broken beyond repair. 
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  • I began studying Alzheimer`s disease seven years ago, as three members of my family had the disease (my aunt and cousin would die from the disease; my mother is in her seventh year with the disease). As an historian, I approached this like any history study: gather a great deal of information to try to tell the best and most accurate story that you can. Here is what I have found: peroxynitrite-mediated damage is widespread in Alzheimer`s disease. This damage includes the oxidation of glucose and choline transport systems, and the enzyme choline acetyltransferase, the oxidation of receptors involved in short-term memory (muscarinic acetylcholine), mood (serotonin), sleep (melatonin), alertness (dopamine), and smell (olfactory), the hyperphosphorylation and nitration of tau proteins (resulting in poor neurotransmissions), the influx of intracellular calcium which kills neurons, and lipid peroxidation which damages cell membranes. Peroxynitrite scavengers (which also partially reverse oxidation and nitration) have repeatedly ameliorated memory deficits in animal models of Alzheimer`s disease (these scavengers include rosmarinic acid, grape seed extract, cinnamon extract, minocyline, ketones from coconut oil, Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil, and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oil). Clinical trials provide further evidence that peroxynitrite scavengers can be used to treat Alzheimer`s disease. Jimbo and colleagues noted significant improvement in cognitive function in 28 dementia patients (19 of them with Alzheimer`s disease) after using a diffuser with lemon and rosemary essential oils in the morning and orange and lavender essential oils in the evening for 28 days. Akhondzadeh and colleagues using tinctures of sage and lemon balm essential oils for 16 weeks saw similar improvements in congnitive function in more than two dozen Alzheimer`s patients. I have seen the benefits of essential oils in the treatment of Alzheimer`s disease first hand. After four years of aromatherapy (beginning with rosemary essential oil and this year adding clove, cinnamon leaf, sage, oregano, thyme, and laurel essential oils), my mother recognizes her home again, feels comfortable around relatives, can spell a number of words including her own name, can recite the alphabet and count to ten, can complete simple phrases, can often remember the order of days and months, sleeps through the night, and is much more alert and aware than four years ago. This disease can be rather easily and effectively treated but in the United States the opposition to such a treatment comes in the form of drug companies, Alzheimer`s researchers, and Alzheimer`s groups searching for either a big payday or the continued influx of large amounts of money to find a "cure" for Alzheimer`s disease. This is both a great shame and a momentous tragedy.

    Lane Simonian // 2011-11-30 18:56:02 // 15 Like(s) // Like

  • Me too believe that exercise is a good way to keep mentally and physically fit. Yoga, fitness, walking in nature, but also having a (creative) hobby that challenges the brain, etc. etc. And my intent that helps me the most: a smile a day keeps the doctor away :)

    heartphone // 2011-11-30 18:13:15 // 10 Like(s) // Like

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• November 21 2011

  Save the Delaware River

  Category:  Consciousness , Health , Politics , Spirituality , Blog Talk Radio

  Waterdefense.org founder Mark Ruffalo Joins Deepak Chopra as they discuss the importance of water to everyday life.
  
  In our lifetime, our limited supply of drinking water needs protection from the devastation caused by the production of dirty fossil fuels. An aggressive clean energy policy is the essential solution for ensuring every American generation has access to clean and safe water.
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  • There is much to be concerned about over the process known as hydraulic fracturing. It is a very nasty operation. There are several hazards associated with the process that get overlooked. For one there is little chance that chemically laden water removed from the ground will be contained properly. Also it is argued by drilling companies that `fracturing` is safe. That refers to the actual drilling itself, which has its own hazards associated with it. The "process" of fracturing entails a whole slew of infrastructure problems that even if done a safely as possible, will cause great harm to the enviroment. Another thing about the actual drilling which they presume to be safe, is that that refers ot one well. In fact they plan to drill parallel wells to saturate an area for natural gas recovery. This leads to huge areas of fractured shale which has been shown to cause the leaking of chemicals into ground water. The high pressure used in the process of injection can cause the hazardous chimicals to seep upward and find their way through old abandoned gas wells and fractured rock to eventualy end up in drinking water. If there is the potential for a drilling company to damage our drinking water or other resources, you can bet they will. It will be just like the strip-mining industry. First they will cause great harm to you, then they will pay a paltry fine. Please go to the Waterdefense.org site and help to push that nightmare away.

    Mark // 2011-11-21 17:44:34 // 6 Like(s) // Like

  • Indeed, some years ago, gas extraction started in the best agricultural areas of Quebec, inside the farming land, even before norms and regulations were adopted for this industry by the government. Land owners were concerned for their own drinking water and food productions. This is a very disturbing industrial approach of `safe energy` exploitation.

    Monas // 2011-11-28 09:55:11 // 2 Like(s) // Like

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• November 16 2011

  Eli's Review of Leela

  Category:  Consciousness , Happiness , Health , Meditation , Spirituality

  Eli Langholt, age 7, reviews the new Wii game, Deepak Chopra's Leela.  Please join Eli in reviewing Leela by placing your comments here.
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  • Thank you for posting my son`s video, Deepak! It means so much to him that he was able to thank you personally for creating this video game, which he loves. I`m also glad to see him playing a game with value - that nurtures the soul with beautiful music, meditations, and spiritual themes. Blessings to you for all of your powerful and important work in the world. Love and light, Alice Langholt (Eli`s mom)

    Alice Langholt // 2011-11-17 20:53:39 // 8 Like(s) // Like

  • I wanna get it for my daughter...she is 10...

    Gladys Batule // 2011-11-16 17:20:01 // 4 Like(s) // Like

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• November 15 2011

  Alzheimer’s Disease: How to Face Fear With Knowledge (Part 1)

  Category:  Consciousness , Health , Spirituality , Science

  By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP and Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D.,
  The Joseph P and Rose F. Kennedy, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of Genetics and Aging, Massachusetts General Hospital

  
  Few people feel comfortable thinking about the aging process, but discomfort turns to fear when it comes to the brain. Medically, everyone’s brain slows down in some way as they age. This doesn’t have to be a source of fear – to be older is often to be calmer, wiser, more at peace. Those desirable states are mental. The brain is secondary. But the brain is primary when it comes to disease, and the most feared disease is Alzheimer’s.
  
  
  
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  • It is so wonderful to see the facts laid out as beautifully as they are here. My mother began exhibiting signs of early-onset Alzheimer`s disease 10 years ago and is still living in the advanced stage of the disease that you described so vividly. I wrote a book of poetry called "Searching For Cecy: Reflections on Alzheimer`s" that will be released November 25th about Mom`s journey into Alzheimer`s and my own struggle to find peace. I wrote the poems over an eight year period in order to make sense out of a situation that seemed so out of control and frightening. Watching Mom today brings me a sense of peace. I have no idea what her journey is about here on earth and why she has had to suffer in this way, but there have been moments of great beauty and wisdom that I have had the privilege of witnessing in her interactions with others. She is extraordinary and brave and I am so very proud to be her daughter. Thanks for bringing awareness to a challenge that so many families are facing today.

    Judy Prescott, author of "Searching For Cecy: Reflections on Alzheimer`s" // 2011-11-16 22:23:56 // 20 Like(s) // Like

  • I fear this for my husband and I more than any other disease.

    Judy Hoover // 2011-11-15 16:47:55 // 7 Like(s) // Like

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• November 14 2011

  Brain Entrainment Technology

  Category:  Consciousness , Health , Spirituality , Ask Deepak , Science

  
  Question:
  What is your opinion on brain entrainment technology? I recently tried meditating with gamma waves CD, and to be honest I felt really good after and throughout the entire day. On the other hand, would it not be considered as a sort of a short cut that reduces the effectiveness of meditation?
  
  
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