by Frank Shallenberger, MD
If you’ve ever known anyone with Alzheimer’s disease, you
know how heart-breaking it can be. Not only does it destroy a person’s mental
abilities and dignity … but it wipes out the person’s very personality, leaving
behind a mere shell of a human being. The body is there for you to see, but the
person you know and love no longer exists.
That’s exactly what happened to my colleague Dr. Mary
Newport and her husband Steve. As Mary describes it, “I was watching my husband
of 36 years fade away.”
Things didn’t start out that way, of course. For most of
Steve’s life, he was known for his quick wit and sharp mind. He could do
complicated math in his head … take apart computers and repair them … fix
practically anything else without instruction. If he didn’t have a tool to do
something he would “invent” one and make a usable prototype. He was also a
voracious reader. And he loved kayaking, cooking, landscaping, and caring for
his two daughters.
Indeed, on the day the couples’ first daughter was born,
Steve left his corporate job as an accountant so he could work from home. He
took over as manager of Mary’s medical practice, handing all the accounting and
administrative tasks. The practice grew by leaps and bounds.
Tragedy Strikes
But then Steve’s memory started failing him. At first, it
was little things, like misplacing his keys and forgetting appointments. But
then the lapses became more serious. He started making errors with the
accounting and payroll. Forgetting whether had had made the bank deposits.
Missing tax deadlines.
A psychiatrist diagnosed him as having depression, and put
him on antidepressant drugs and psychological counseling. But of course, that
didn’t help. Steve’s memory continued to get worse. He started getting lost
while trying to drive home. He couldn’t even remember how to turn on the car’s
windshield wiper.
By now it was clear that Steve had dementia. Mary wrote in
her journal: “It has been a nightmare to watch his decline. Every night, we
hold each other before we go to sleep and I wonder how many more times we will
get to do this.”
Mary did everything she could for Steve. She cooked for him,
gave him his medications, helped him get dressed.
She also tried to enroll him in studies on new experimental
drugs. But Steve scored so low on the mental exam that he didn’t qualify for
the studies.
One day, Mary came across research on an experimental drug
called Ketasyn. She learned that in a study of Alzheimer’s patients, this drug
brought about improvement in half the people who took it.
Mary did research on the internet and came across a patent
application for the drug. The application included a description of how the
drug works and a list of the drug’s ingredients. Much to Mary’s surprise, the
main ingredient of the drug was medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), derived from
coconuts.
Could the solution to Alzheimer’s be as simple as taking MCT
oils? Mary decided she had nothing to lose. She went to the health food store
and bought some coconut oil. The next morning, she mixed it in Steve’s oatmeal
and fed it to him. She then drove him to an appointment where he was scheduled
to re-take the MMSR exam.
As soon as they got to the appointment, Steve was whisked
away to the exam room. When he came back, Steve told Mary that he was unhappy
with his performance. So Mary pulled aside the research coordinator and asked
how Steve did. The coordinator looked at Mary and said “Didn’t he tell you? He
scored an 18!”
I spoke to Dr. Mary Newport just recently. Not only is
Steve’s gait totally back to normal, but he now jogs daily! His tremor is
completely gone. And he has also gone back to being an avid reader. He recently
relayed the details of two articles he read in Scientific American.
His memory is also dramatically improved. He often brings up
events that happened days or weeks earlier.
He recognizes his relatives again and has conversations with
them. He is back to doing the yard work at the house. And he has started doing
volunteer work at the local hospital.
Mary and I are convinced that these changes are due to the
coconut oil. Why? Because any time Steve misses a dose, his Alzheimer’s
symptoms immediately start to return.
Can coconut oil work for you or a loved one? The odds are
good that it can. Not everyone will benefit to the same degree that Steve did.
But I will tell you this: In my experience there will always be some degree of
improvement.
