The new research shows that an insufficient supply of sugar glucose, transported by blood, sets off a biochemical chain reaction resulting in the accumulation of the neuron-attacking proteins that cause Alzheimer's.
"This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer's," said Robert Vassar, a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
"A stroke is a blockage that prevents blood flow and produces cell death in an acute, dramatic event," he explained. "What we are talking about here is a slow, invidious process over many years where people have a low level of cardiovascular disease."
"It is so mild, they don't even notice it, but it has an effect over time because it is producing a chronic reduction in the blood flow," he added.
Ancient and modern TCM practitioners have long understood the link between blood flow and mental function. In the ancient Ling Shu, it says, "When blood vessels are harmonious and uninhibited, the essence spirit can abide there." In the Xue Zheng Lun it says, "Whoever's heart has static blood will also be affected by poor memory".Yan De-Xin is a famous contemporary TCM practitioner in China, who after 54 years in practice, has come to the conclusion that static blood is the chief mechanism of senility. He has written extensively on this topic and has formulated a number of herbal prescriptions that he tested extensively in his clinic. His work has laid the groundwork for a new systematic approach to geriatrics, including the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
I will talk a little more about the clinical signs and symptoms of the TCM pattern of blood stasis in a later post.
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