In the course of researching brain tumor therapy I frequently read research on the same therapies with dementia. In some cases this was because drugs that are neuroprotective help in a wide variety of neurological diseases, but upon further exploration I discovered that dementia is also, like cancer, a disease that features very disregulated metabolism. Because of this many metabolic therapies may help treat or prevent dementia.

In the case of cancer, tumors are voracious consumers of glucose in particular, but also amino acids and lipids. With Alzheimer’s there is a different type of disregulation. Brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease have a reduced ability to consume glucose, which they usually need to function. They also have disregulated lipid metabolism and utilization, resulting in the formation of beta-amyloid plaques. Below is some research on adjunct therapies to reduce dementia risk and progression that I discovered in the literature.